The Future of the Past
by ebi pers
Summary: A story about the next generation of Terra Nova citizens, featuring some show favorites and the next generation! Mild violence and a few bad words. Chapter 11 posted, thanks to the renewed support for this story!
1. Outline

**PREFACE OUTLINE (to familiarize yourself with the characters):**

I have important news. I am discontinuing the story "In His Footsteps." Reader response has been low and it has become increasingly difficult to write material for it. Therefore I've decided that I shall discontinue it indefinitely. To replace it, I've got this series, which I've already come up with a bazillion plot lines for—it's all coming more naturally with this story anyhow. This is set in the "next generation" of Terra Nova. We get to meet the children of Mark and Maddy and Skye and Josh all grown up now (teenagers…). And we get some OC's that I've spent a lot of time developing, too! I hope you guys will like this better than the other story I'm replacing.

Initial details: Mark is now forty-two, Maddy is forty. Josh, therefore, is forty-one and Skye is the same age. And Zoe is thirty. We'll see appearances of all the other major characters, too! Terra Nova is still cut off from the future, meaning this new generation of citizens is vital to the colony's success and survival.

This "chapter" that you see here is really just going to introduce you to everyone in a list-format. The NEXT chapter is where the story starts, so if you want to fast-forward, be my guest. I especially want you to get to meet the OC's though, as you will have no frame of reference to go by from the television series.. All the original series' characters are still themselves…just a little more mature. So bear with me and, like I said, feel free to skip ahead now if you don't want to be bothered with boring details, though I advise at least skimming through some of this.

**Characters from the Show:**

Mark and Maddy Reynolds—Mark is now the rank of Captain, Maddy is the second-in-command at the science facilities (stubborn old Malcolm refuses to retire…)

Josh and Skye Shannon—Josh has since taken over Boylan's bar, what with Boylan retiring now. And he plays music too. Skye is one of the head physicians in the clinic, directly under Elisabeth Shannon.

Jim and Elisabeth Shannon—Jim rose to the rank of second-in-command following Lieutenant Washington's death. He's still the sheriff of Terra Nova. Elisabeth is the doctor in charge of the clinic.

Zoe Shannon—Zoe's working in the clinic, too! She's a doctor, and Skye's right hand, and she has a gentleman suitor, though she's a bit oblivious to this fact…

Nathaniel Taylor (still just as feisty, despite his old age…)—still commander, even as he approaches age seventy…

Guest appearances from Malcolm and others like Curran, Reilly, Dunham, and Boylan! And some creeps from the Badlands will occasionally resurface throughout the story as well…

**The OC's (they're important, so pay attention!)**

Adelaide Elisabeth Reynolds, age 20. She is the eldest child of Mark and Maddy. She has long, dark hair like her mother and crystal blue eyes like her father. Her skin is tanned and she is slight of build. Adelaide is stubborn but also intensely loyal, and she will do just about anything to protect her family and friends. She is a physician who studied under her grandmother and she's just starting to do independent work. She is very intelligent and quick-thinking, and she's very close with her siblings. She's also a scrappy one, the type of girl you really shouldn't be messing with if you value your health.

Matthew Washington Reynolds, age sixteen. He is the second child of Mark and Maddy. He is the spitting image of his father, and very much like him in personality, too. He is athletic, brave, loyal and very well mannered. He also possesses a good sense of humor. He is also very well-liked by most people in the Terra Nova community. Although he seems to be the perfect son, he's secretly worried that he won't live up to his father's expectations. Just like Mark did, Matt is receiving military training and plans to join the Terra Nova security forces, fighting alongside his father. His main motivations are to make his dad proud (even though Mark is already is proud of his son) and to impress a lovely young lady in the security forces.

Paul James Reynolds, age fourteen. He is the youngest of Mark and Maddy's children, the third child (seeing as Terra Nova has no population control laws). Although fourteen, he is remarkably mature for his age, taking after his mother in fields of intelligence. He is a bit of a loner, but very close to his older brother. Paul is a combination of his parents' best features—the same, strong face of his father, the same blue eyes, but with the gentler, quieter demeanor of his mother. He's an avid bookworm, too, but afraid to stand up for himself. Matt is very protective of Paul, especially when the boy is bullied…

Lauren Deborah Shannon, age sixteen. She is the daughter of Josh and Skye. She looks very much like her mother—same hair color and eyes. She is very musically gifted, like her father. She is quiet and serious, but is close to her cousin Matt. She is sort of 'one-of-the-boys' when it comes to the soldiers, but she's secretly crushing on one of them. She also worries a lot for her future because she is unsure of what she wants to do with her life.

Austin James Shannon, age twelve, Josh and Skye's youngest child and only son. He will be a relatively minor character in the story. He is a typical twelve-year-old boy. He looks a lot like his grandfather did when he was younger. He, like his parents when they were younger, has a tendency to get into trouble a lot, too…

Justine Carlisle, age sixteen. She's a real beauty—short and petite, with long, flowing dark locks and startling green eyes. She is half Irish, half Spanish, and her features are the best combination of both. She's also fluent in English and Spanish, making her one of the rare citizens who can speak a second language. Her father was a soldier who died in a battle shortly after her birth. He was close friends with Mark. Justine is sort of like Taylor's aide-de-camp: very efficient and organized. Her technical rank is Private, although Taylor rarely lets her out of the command center for fear of putting such a young woman in harm's way. She's Matthew's romantic interest and she reciprocates, but both are reluctant to make their friendship awkward…

Corporal Sean Quinn, age twenty-one. He's Adelaide's boyfriend, a corporal who serves under her father (who doesn't hate him as much as Jim hated _his _daughter's boyfriend). Sean is tall, well-built, courageous and outspoken, with strong morals and a strong sense of justice. He has dark brown eyes and sandy hair, and he is very well-respected by his fellow soldiers and citizens for his loyalty and proper conduct. Mark's even got him pegged for a leadership position eventually.

And rounding out the group are a soldier and a scientist who will be minor characters throughout most of this story:

Private John Kelly, age sixteen. He's a recent enlistee who passed the training courses in record time and found himself assigned to serve under Mark Reynolds. He has blue eyes and dark hair, lean and well-built. He's good friends with the members of his unit, and unbeknownst to him, Lauren has a big crush on him…

Dr. Martin Cossack, age thirty-two. He is a member of the Terra Nova Science Division and he works alongside Maddy and Malcolm. He is five foot six, very intelligent, with reddish-brown hair and hazel colored eyes. He is interested in starting a relationship with Zoe, who is often too consumed with work to take notice…

And, what would a story be without antagonists? You'll soon meet the Dugan family, who seem to have it out for the Reynolds family in particular, due to an old military beef Mr. Dugan has. But more on them later…

**So that's it (if you stuck around to read all of that.) Sorry if I bored you but I felt that if you got some insight into the way things are in Terra Nova now, you'd be able to follow the story better. It's a lot of characters to follow but I hope that it'll become clearer as time goes on. The story will be told from the POV's of most of the major character—mostly the 'new generation.' Please proceed to the next chapter for the actual story part…**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay, so if you skipped past the preface, I urge you to go back and skim the character descriptions there, just to familiarize yourself with the people. Other than that, please enjoy and review so that I know there's _some _positive reader response! **

**Matt's POV**

I stood at attention while Commander Taylor walked through our ranks, my grandfather by his right, my father by his left, and Justine following close behind, clipboard in hand. I tried to keep my eyes focused on the commander, but every so often I'd glance at Justine, hoping she'd notice. She finally did, offering me a half-smile before going back to her paperwork. The commander spoke.

"Ladies and gentleman," he paused in front of each of us, looking us squarely in the eyes before moving on. "You are on the cusp of greatness—of becoming the future soldiers of Terra Nova. Your training is nearly complete, and you will soon be ready to defend our home. In two weeks, I'll be announcing those enlistees who have passed their training and are ready to join our ranks. Thus far, I've yet to find one single person who does not qualify to move on. You should all be very proud," he made eye-contact with me as he said this last bit. I noticed my dad beaming proudly.

I caught up with Justine after we had been dismissed. "Private Carlisle!" She fixed me with a look, raising an eyebrow, her lips tweaked at the corners. "Justine," I corrected, grinning.

"Hi, Matt."

"You're coming over today, right? To teach me Spanish?" I had recently discovered that Justine could speak Spanish—I should have known: only her dad was Irish. Her mom came from Mexico, if I remembered correctly. I had asked her to teach me the language, if only because it would give me an excuse to see her more often. Our dads had been friends years back, but Sergeant Carlisle had been killed in a shootout with the Phoenix Group, Terra Nova's enemies. Justine and I had been friends since birth, pretty much.

She brushed a strand of her dark curls behind her ear. "Yeah," the smile brightened her tan skin, her deep green eyes almost twinkling. If only she could smile like that all the time…She looked at me, expectantly and I realized I was staring. _Dammit! _

"Uh, great. I'll, uh, see you then!" I stammered clumsily through the sentence, knowing I sounded like a lovesick idiot.

"See you then," she gave me one last smile before walking on. I had to make a conscious effort not to stare after her. The guys would never let me hear the end of it if they found out…

**Paul's POV**

A shadow loomed over me as I read my plex. I glanced up and found the face I dreaded most—Kyle Dugan, athlete, snob, and bully extraordinaire. He had his 'crew' with him. This had been going on for years. He would pick on me, I would pretend to let it roll of my back. I winced as he knocked the plex off my lap.

"What're you reading, Reynolds?" he sneered. I really do not understand what this kid's beef is. Dad told me once that Mr. Dugan had failed his test to become a soldier and got stuck with agricultural duty instead—not the worst of fates. Even here in 'paradise,' you get troublemakers though, and Mr. Dugan was the whiniest of them all. Uncle Josh told me once that even Boylan got sick of his yammering. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if I found out Mr. Dugan was filling Kyle's head with all sorts of BS about my family…

"Nothing," I mumbled, kicking myself for not finding something clever to say in response. Matt would've thought of something great to come back with. Adelaide would probably have picked the plex up and hit Kyle over the head with it. But they're them, and I'm me. I'm not a fighter.

Kyle picked the plex up. "Give it back!" I screamed at him, trying to snatch it away. Naturally, he found my grabbing very amusing and purposely withheld it from me.

"Oh man, this kid's dweebier than I thought!" Kyle turned to his 'friends.' "He's reading a chemistry textbook!" There were shrieks of laughter from the Dunce-Cappers. They probably didn't even know what chemistry was…

But then Kyle did something I never expected him to do. He broke it! He actually broke my plex into two pieces and threw them on the ground! Did he have any idea how much a plex cost? If you weren't part of the science division or the military you didn't get one for free! Heck, my parents had to pay for that plex for me! I tried to think of what Matt would do. Matt would probably beat the crap out of them. But, again, I'm not a fighter. I picked the broken plex off the ground, ignored the laughter, and walked off toward home. I'd invent some stupid excuse as to why the plex broke. Mom and Dad wouldn't be terribly pleased, but they would replace it so long as they thought it was an accident. But there was no way in hell I could tell them what really happened. The Reynolds family was full of soldiers! Dad would be so disappointed if he knew his own son couldn't stand up for himself…

**Adelaide's POV**

I came in the door just past four, the groceries tucked beneath my arm. Matt was in the kitchen, Justine sitting across from him at the table, attempting to guide him in the ways of the Spanish language…

"¿Puedes hablar español?" her voice rang out clearly, perfectly accented. Unlike Matt, I had actually learned some of this language. _Do you speak Spanish? _I withheld my laughter as Matt attempted a poor imitation of the sentence. Evidently Justine doesn't have nearly the amount of willpower I do, because she burst out laughing. I grinned as Matt turned red with embarrassment.

"I'm home," I announced, setting the groceries on a counter and turning to face my beet-red brother and his 'hopefully, maybe one-day future girlfriend.'

"Hey," Matt looked up, the red hue just leaving his cheeks.

"Hi!" Justine greeted cheerfully.

"Spanish?" I directed the question more at the girl than my brother.

"Yep," she smiled her normal, perfectly-white smile. Then she cast a teasing glance at Matt. "Some people may not be cut out for a foreign language…"

I laughed, patting her shoulder. "Good luck. Matt's a slow learner." He stuck his tongue out at me in response. I returned in kind. "Where's Paul?"

"He came home a while ago. He didn't look too happy. I tried to talk to him but he blew me off." Matt jerked his thumb in the direction of Paul's bedroom, indicating he was in there.

I scoffed. "Maybe it's time for big sis to the rescue."

"Good luck. He threw something at me earlier."

Ignoring Matt's warning, I crossed the living room floor and knocked lightly on my youngest brother's door.

"What?" he responded darkly.

"It's Adelaide," I identified myself. "You okay, Paul?"

"Fine," his voice returned in a dismal, monotonous tone.

"Oh yeah, totally. I can tell by the tone in your voice," I replied sarcastically. "Can I come in?"

"No."

"Well tough luck, kid, I'm coming in anyway." I turned the knob and forced myself in, nearly tripping over the chair he had placed there as a barricade. The curtains were all drawn and he was sitting in the dark. I was worried—I had been for a while. Paul had become so introverted recently, hardly ever leaving his room except for dinner and to go to school. He had always been bookish, just like Mom, but this was getting to be a bit extreme. Did he ever even see sunlight?

I sat myself down at the edge of his bed. He glared at me, his knees folded into chest and his arms wrapped around them. "Want to tell me what's wrong?" I asked, not beating around the bush. I've noticed that it's much more effective to just cut to the chase with Paul.

"I'd rather not."

I scoffed. "Well I know something's wrong, Paul. I don't know why you won't just tell me. Am I so horrible?" It actually hurt that Paul was withholding things from me. He'd always been closer to Matt, but he had never been hesitant to confide in me too before.

"Nothing's wrong, Adelaide."

"Not buying it," I told him, seeing right through him. "So spill. Or I'll just wait you out."

"Don't hold your breath," he muttered. I could see what looked like tear streaks on his face. Whatever it was must be pretty serious.

"Fine," I got up. "If you want to talk, just come find me." He made a noise to acknowledge what I said. As I walked out, I glanced at his desk, usually littered with papers and all sorts of little projects. But something stood out to me this time. There were…two pieces of a broken plex?

"Paul, what happened here?" I asked, holding up one of the halves.

"Oh. That." He looked down. "I uh, I tripped and it fell on a rock and broke."

I frowned. "Bullshit. You're a terrible liar. What actually happened?"

"Nothing! Okay? Nothing, Adelaide, just leave me alone!" I must say, I was surprised by his outburst. He flopped down on his bed, head down into the pillow. I took the broken plex and left. But I had a feeling I knew what was going on. Paul's my brother. I've lived with him long enough.

Matt was still talking with Justine, in English, thankfully. I couldn't take much more of his clumsy accent. I dropped the pieces in front of him on the table. He and Justine both glanced down.

"What the…?"

"Paul's," I answered him before he could finish the sentence. "Something's wrong with him, Matt. He won't tell me what. Maybe you should talk to him…"

Matt nodded grimly.

**Matt's POV**

Adelaide dropped the broken plex in front of me. I wasn't sure what to make of it. "What the…?"

"Paul's," she clarified. "Something's wrong with him, Matt. He won't tell me what. Maybe you should talk to him…"

I glanced at Justine. Her green eyes were wider than usual. I nodded. Paul's always trusted me with just about everything. If anyone stood a chance of finding out what happened, I did.

I didn't knock on his door, just let myself in.

"Go away, Adelaide!" he commanded.

"It's Matt," I told him. "Adelaide just showed me what happened to your plex. Care to explain?"

"I told her. I tripped on a rock and it broke in half."

Paul certainly wasn't a good liar. "Come on, Paul, I'm not that stupid. Plexes aren't that easy to break." I sat down at the end of his bed. He didn't even look up to acknowledge me. "It looks like someone took some hard object and literally smashed the thing."

Paul mumbled something into his pillow.

"What?"

"You're not too far off," he said, this time picking his head up to look at me.

My pulse quickened. _Someone broke his plex? _The next question was natural. "Who did it?"

Paul fell silent. It was obvious he was conflicted, as if he thought that by revealing who had done it he might incur even more penalty.

"It's just me, man," I tried the gentle approach. "It's not like I'm going to go rat you out to them."

He still stared at me, unsure of what to do. "Kyle," he finally relented.

"Kyle…Dugan?"

"The one and only." He flopped back onto his bed again, heaving a sigh.

I should have known. The Dugan family has sort of had it out for us for a while now, of this I am fully aware. Brendan Dugan—the father of the rowdy bunch—had failed his physicals to become a soldier. Commander Taylor put him on agricultural duty. I suppose he's jealous that my dad got the position he did. And being the vindictive man he was, Brendan Dugan probably filled his kids up with all the anti-Reynolds propaganda he could. He wasn't a big Shannon family fan either, according to Mom. This was a big problem, because one of Dugan's sons—Avery Dugan—was in the group that was training with me. If Kyle Dugan hated our family, I'm sure Avery Dugan did too. And now Avery Dugan was going to be my fellow soldier! But that wasn't important at the moment, because some punk was messing with my brother.

"Kyle Dugan did this?" I repeated, grimly.

Paul nodded.

"Has he been picking on you for a while?"

Paul nodded again.

I sighed. "Did you tell Dad? He could deal with it."

My brother looked up, nearly panicking. "Are you kidding me?"

"What?"

"I can't tell Dad!"

"Why not?"

"Because! I'm a Reynolds! We're…we're soldiers! He would be so disappointed…"

This took me aback. _Where on Earth had he gotten that notion from_? Dad was nothing if not supportive of all of us. He would never be disappointed that Paul didn't stand up for himself. It wasn't Paul's nature! Dad would be upset, but his anger would probably be directed towards Dugan, not Paul. And Dad could certainly fix the problem.

"Paul, you know that isn't true."

"Easy for you to say, Matt. You're like Dad's clone."

That stung a little. "Come on, Paul. Just because I'm joining security doesn't mean Dad expects you to do the same thing. He knows you're into science. That's cool! I mean, look at Mom! Look at Dr. Wallace!"

He was quiet as the info sank in. "Fine, I'll talk to Dad. Promise you won't say anything to him, though?"

"Promise," I agreed. I could see the poor kid wanted to be left alone, so I rose and headed for the door. "But you better tell him what's going on." He nodded and I left the room.

Adelaide greeted me outside. "So…?" Justine stood beside her, equally anxious to find out what was eating at Paul.

I sighed, frustrated. "Kyle Dugan," I told them, the two words explaining everything.

"That son-of-a-bitch!" Adelaide cried, always ready to hurl nasty names at people she disliked.

"You mean like, Avery Dugan's brother? Brendan Dugan's son?" Justine asked.

"Yep," I gritted out.

"You can't be serious!" she seemed absolutely stunned. "Why would Kyle Dugan be tormenting your brother?"

"Because," Adelaide broke in indignantly, "Brendan Dugan's had it out for this family ever since our dad made it so far in the military. And it doesn't help that our grandfather's the sheriff."

"Vengeful bastard," Justine noted, evidently recalling the story of how Mr. Dugan didn't quite make it in the security forces. "But why your family only?"

I shrugged. We had _all _asked that question at some point or another. "Easy targets, I guess? I mean we're pretty visible in the public."

"Good point," she concurred. Suddenly, the front door opened. Our mom entered the foyer.

"Hello!" she greeted, then spotted Justine. "Justine, always a pleasure!"

"Nice to see you, Mrs. Reynolds," she returned warmly. Then she turned to me. "Actually, Matt, I need to head out. My mom's waiting for me. I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Yeah," I grinned stupidly at the promise. "See ya!" She grabbed her jacket and I walked her to the door before seeing her off. I turned around and saw my mother smiling at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing," she forced the smirk from her face, exchanging what could only be described as a knowing glance with my sister. Sometimes I swear they're more like best friends than mother and daughter. "Where's Paul?" Mom asked, and I suddenly remembered what had happened with Kyle Dugan.

"He's in his room," I told her, fighting back the urge to tell her about his bully trouble. He had to tell them on his own…

**A/N: Sorry for the long first chapter but I really wanted to get all three characters' thoughts out. I know Matt gets to narrate twice but I kind of relate to him most, so it comes more naturally to me. But I hope you like all three kids so far, and Justine Carlisle too. She does get to take over some parts of the story as well, later on. I did my best to capture three separate personalities here, so if the writing styles seem a bit different, it's intentional. Thanks for reading this long first chapter and please leave a review! Also, if you skipped the long-windedness of the outline, I'd advise going back and skimming, just to familiarize yourself with all the characters and where they stand. Next chapter will introduce Josh and Skye's daughter, Mark will make an appearance, and we'll see things from Justine's point of view for a little while too. Stick around! **


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: I'm continuing on with this momentum and updating again! I would like to thank my first reviewers for leaving me your thoughts. I really want to spread the word of this story—I've got big plans for it and I appreciate you taking time out to review! Now I hate to say it, and I hoped I wouldn't have to, but I REALLY do NOT appreciate flames. If you didn't like my writing, that's perfectly okay but please tell me why you didn't like it. Otherwise you just come off as obnoxious. Or rude. Or both. Negative reviews are fine, but they need to be CONSTRUCTIVE! Anyway, I really wish I didn't have to say that but now that that's out of the way, we can move on…and straight to a new character! FYI: This is set during the afternoon following the last chapter…**

**Lauren's POV**

People watching. Personally, it's one of my favorite activities. But only watching certain people. Case in point: John Kelly. I watched him from where I was sitting—the bench in the middle of the marketplace. He was talking to some of the other guys in his unit. If I thought hard enough, I could recall their names too. But I didn't think hard enough, because Private Kelly had my complete and total interest. He was running a hand through his short, dark crew cut. I wasn't sure if he was on duty or not. Either way, there wasn't much going on. I was still staring when he looked up and saw me. _Crap! _I moved my eyes, played it cool like I just happened to be staring at him, thinking how dreamy he was, when he looked up. He gave me a small smile. I looked away, feeling the heat filling my cheeks.

The blush increased when he approached me. Private Kelly is the exact same age as me, only he's far more accomplished, being the youngest guy ever to pass the Terra Nova security entrance exams. I looked up as his shadow approached.

"Hi, Lauren," he greeted. I wouldn't say we're good friends…but I do hang around his unit a lot. Not to put too fine a point on it but I'm not really the type of girl to run around acting ditzy like most of the young ladies my age.

"Kelly," I greeted coolly, calling him by last name like his friends did.

"Me and the other guys were going to head over to the bar after our shift. Wanna come with?"

_Do I ever! _"Yeah, I guess," I replied, trying to seem mildly disinterested. "Wait a minute…aren't you…?"

John chuckled. "Too young? Yeah. And don't worry, it's not like your dad is gonna serve me anything to drink. We're just hanging out."

_Dad! _I had completely forgotten that my dad was in charge of the bar now that Boylan decided he'd much rather spend his days relaxing and enjoying free rounds whenever he stopped by. There was no way Josh Shannon's daughter was going to be spending time hanging out with a bunch of young soldiers in a bar! Not if he had anything to say about it! "Actually, I don't think I can...I have…stuff…" I tried to keep the tone of disappointment out of my voice.

He seemed taken aback—disappointed, too, hopefully? "Oh. That's cool. We'll hang out some other time then."

"Yeah, sure," I managed a weak grin and he walked off to finish his patrol. I cursed myself mentally, sure that I had come off way too desperate for my own good.

**Justine's POV**

"Private, I need you to run some of these files for me," Commander Taylor handed me a list with several names on it.

"Yes, sir," I left the room, heading for the filing cabinet. I'm not sure why, but the Commander never seems to want to put me on any active duty. I'm like his aide-de-camp, or more accurately—his gofer. Some part of me thinks it has something to do with my father's death. My dad went down fighting, but he had eventually been overwhelmed by the Phoenix soldiers. According to Sheriff Shannon, he's never gotten over letting my dad die out there, even if it wasn't directly his fault.

I pulled the files, handed them to him. He hardly looked up, thanked me curtly, and returned to his work. And I returned to…taking inventory. _I enlisted for a reason! I didn't want to be running paperwork for the rest of my life! _

I looked up as Sergeant Reilly and Corporal Sean Quinn entered the command center. I greeted them with the customary salute, relaxing after the formalities were spoken. Other than that, there were very few interruptions, and I was left alone with my thoughts until shortly before I was off the clock.

My mind immediately shifted to the past afternoon, teaching Matt to speak Spanish. Sadly, I don't think he's ever going to pick up on the language. And then I remembered what had happened with Paul. My blood ran cold as I recalled what Adelaide had said about the Dugans having it out for their family. It didn't make sense, entirely. Of all the high-ranking military families out there, why target the Reynolds' and the Shannons? Why not the Dunhams? Why not Taylor himself? Although Matt did have a point—the Reynolds family was very visible to the public, especially after Captain Reynolds married Sheriff Shannon's daughter. I suppose they were easy targets, and from what I've observed, Mr. Dugan is pretty bitter to all of our soldiers anyway…

I was interrupted when I heard my name called. Glancing quickly at my watch, I realized my shift was almost over. Then I glanced at the source of the sound—Matt! He was smiling, his blue eyes lit up with an amused tilt that seemed to run in his family. He was definitely happy about something…

"Hey," I returned the smile, my hands flying to my hair subconsciously, smoothing out the messy curls.

"Guess what?" he asked me excitedly.

"What?"

"I've been assigned to take an interior patrol to help prepare me for when I become a full-fledged member of security!"

"That's awesome!" I had to hold back the urge to hug him. Very few of the cadets were chosen to join interior patrols before their training was fully complete. I guess the commander felt like he could trust Matt, given his father's track record.

"So when are you getting out of this joint?" he asked, half-jokingly.

"Fifteen minutes," I grumbled. "But I have to go home and help my mom do the errands afterwards."

His face fell for a moment. _That's a good sign, right? That he's disappointed that I'm busy? _"Oh. Well if you get a chance, why don't you swing by? Or else we'll see each other tomorrow?" He asked.

"Sure," I fixed my eyes on him, gave him a half-smile, then returned to taking inventory as he walked out. _Definitely a good sign!_

**Matt's POV**

I was pretty disappointed that Justine was busy. We'd been spending so much time together lately and I was starting to work up the courage to actually ask her out. Not that I was planning to do it today, but soon. Preferably after I completed my training. I would have to ask Dad for advice on how to ask Justine out though…

I arrived home to find Adelaide stirring an enormous pot of…something…on the stove. Paul was in his room, as usual. We hadn't spoken much since he had confessed his bully issue to me. And he hadn't spoken to Dad that night. But I had promised not to say anything, so I didn't. Instead, I headed into the kitchen, grabbing an apple from the bowl on the counter and peering into Adelaide's mysterious concoction. She may be a brilliant doctor, but she's not much of a cook.

"Do I want to know what that is?" I asked, scrunching up my nose.

She whacked my arm. "It's not _that _bad, is it?"

"I reserve the right to remain silent."

"Keep talking, Matt. I'll add something special to your portion…"

Not exactly what you'd want your sister to say to you, especially since she's a doctor with access to hundreds of unpleasant, potentially lethal drugs. "Fine, I can take a hint."

Dad came home earlier than usual. Mom was still at work.

"Hi, Dad," I greeted him as he came in.

"Hey!" He paused, the scent of Adelaide's frightening brew reaching his nose. "Adelaide's cooking again…?"

"Mom's not home yet."

Dad grinned. "God help us all…don't tell her I said that!" He hung up his coat and proceeded to the kitchen, pausing to say hi to Adelaide, and eventually settling himself on the couch and reading something on his plex. I took advantage of the opportunity.

"Hey Dad?"

He glanced up at me. "What's up, Matt?"

"Can I ask you something?"

Dad looked at me for a moment, searching my face for any sign of what I wanted. "Of course, you can ask me anything."

"Well I need some advice…" this was getting increasingly awkward. "About girls…"

A knowing smile crossed his face. _Why does everyone get that look whenever I mention a girl? _

"Is this about Justine Carlisle?"

I deflated. "How'd you know?"

Dad lowered his voice, as if letting me in on a secret. "You aren't exactly discreet, son."

"I really want to ask her out, I just…I don't know how," I tried to ignore his last statement. "How'd you ask Mom out?" Hopefully I could draw inspiration from there. Anyone from their generation seemed to agree that Mom and Dad had the sweetest romance of anyone in the colony.

Dad hesitated a minute. "Oh, you know. The usual—talked it over with her father, asked her out in the market…"

"Oh." _Justine's dad is dead! _"Where'd you two go?"

There was another pause. "I wouldn't advise you to use my idea…"

"Why?" I scoffed. "What happened?"

"Well we started with a picnic in a field of dayflowers. We ended in a tree covered in mud and hiding from dinosaurs."

_Well, that's…pleasant. _"I guess that's a pretty good way to ruin my chances…"

"Not necessarily," Dad grinned. "Anyway, you just need to get up the nerve and do it, Matt. It really wasn't easy for me, either. But if you really like Justine then you should tell her."

"You think so?"

Dad nodded.

"I guess you're right. Thanks, Dad…" I got up to leave the room and bumped into Paul on my way out. _Maybe he's going to tell Dad now! _

**A/N: Ok, so now I've given you a brief glimpse into Lauren Shannon and Justine Carlisle. There will be plenty more of both later on, as well as expanding upon the plotlines already introduced. Please keep following for more updates and don't forget the reviews! And kindly do NOT flame me. Thanks. **


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews, everyone—you guys are the best! I'm really happy to see my review totals jumping, but I think some of us are missing the point. Was I flamed? Yes, I was, but it isn't that big a deal. Haters gonna hate. I really appreciate my readers sticking up for me but when it turns into personal attacks like calling the flamer a "mental reject," that's just uncalled for. Thank you for defending me, but let's focus on the story and not the trolls. The last thing I want is to start a war. Anyway, I have implemented a few changes here upon the request of my reader Jennifer-1490 (proof that if you leave me some constructive criticism I won't ignore you!) In order to help you keep track of the characters, I'm going to give you a brief recap on each person when the POV changes. I hope it makes it easier for you guys to read this story. So please leave a review, I swear I don't bite (unless you're a flamer)! **

**Paul's POV**

RECAP: Paul is the youngest of the Reynolds kids, age fourteen. He looks a lot like his dad but he has his mom's personality. Insanely smart but timid, Paul's gone through some bullying in the first chapter. Matt made him promise to tell their dad about it, but Paul is reluctant because he's afraid his dad will be disappointed in him.

I passed Matt as he left the living room. Dad was sitting on the couch, his plex in his hand. I had promised my brother that I'd tell Dad what was going on with Kyle and his dunce-cap buddies. _But how does one go about doing this? What was I supposed to say? "Hey Dad, I'm being picked on in school and I can't stand up for myself so could you please beat the crap out of Kyle Dugan?" _

I hesitated as I entered the room and was about to turn and bolt when Dad spotted me.

"Hi Paul," he greeted, smiling.

"Hi, Dad," I mumbled.

Dad looked at me, concerned. He's definitely good at reading people. "What's the matter?"

"I…" I honestly thought that I was about to tell him what was happening. "I…" There was a knock on the door that interrupted me. Dad got up to answer it and I took the opportunity to run. _I'll tell him some other time… _

**Mark's POV**

RECAP: We all know Mark Reynolds from the show. He's now married to Maddy, he's forty-two and he has three children. I can't imagine Mark aging poorly, so let's just assume he looks similar, with maybe a few age details added. Same with Maddy—they're what we call "graceful agers." Anyhow, he's been designated captain at this point and he serves as one of Taylor's trusted advisors (just below father-in-law Jim Shannon).

There was definitely something bothering Paul. I know my son well enough to know that. The problem is, all three of my kids have very different personalities. Adelaide, for example, is not afraid to tell people how she feels. Matt is pretty easy-going, and he prefers to use humor or let things roll of his back. But Paul is very introverted, and he holds things inside. I knew I had a lot of digging to do before he'd actually tell me anything. I was ready to start digging, too, but the knocking at the door interrupted me. When I turned to look at where my youngest son had been standing, he'd already run off.

Making a mental note to check in on him later, I answered the door, hoping it was my wife but knowing it was probably someone else. It was Corporal Sean Quinn, one of the brightest in my unit.

"Captain Reynolds," he addressed me, snapping to attention.

"Corporal, we're not on duty—you can relax." He relaxed his posture. Sean's a good kid, one of the best. And he's very well respected by everyone. He'll make a brilliant unit leader one day. But right now, he wasn't here to see me—he was here for Adelaide.

I won't lie, I wasn't thrilled to find out that Adelaide was dating a soldier, especially one under my command. But Sean is definitely good for her. Adelaide can be a loose cannon sometimes. He reigns her in when she needs to be reigned in. And he's respectful of her. Therefore, with my own experience dealing with Maddy's dad in mind, I granted him my blessing.

"Is Adelaide here, sir?" Sean asked me, running his hand through his sandy hair and glancing about a little nervously. Dating the daughter of your superior is never easy…

"I think she's in the kitchen," I stood aside and allowed him in.

"Thank you, sir." He slowly entered the house, heading to the kitchen.

**Adelaide's POV**

RECAP: Adelaide is the eldest of the Reynolds kids, age twenty. She has her mother's hair and her father's eyes. Although she is small and petite, she's a scrappy girl. She's not afraid to let you know exactly what she thinks of you, and she's definitely not afraid to stand up for herself. She works in the clinic and, as we learned last chapter, she's not a good cook. She's dating Sean Quinn.

I heard the door open, I heard Dad talking to Sean, and I heard Sean come in. Now I was just waiting for him to appear. I wasn't disappointed.

"Sean!" I ran to greet him as soon as he entered the kitchen. He threw his arms around me and planted a kiss on my cheek.

"Hi, Adelaide," he smiled at me, but he dropped his arms as Dad came in the kitchen. Dad isn't the controlling type of parent my grandfather was and is, but Sean's always a little…nervous whenever my father's nearby. I guess he doesn't want to make a bad impression. We sort of stared awkwardly at one another until Dad left, something of a mischievous smirk on his face.

I reached up and ran a finger under one of Sean's brown eyes, wiping away some dirt that had caked itself there. "Did you just get off patrol?"

"Yep," he replied, his hand covering mine, a sign that I should leave it there. "I came right over as soon as the Commander dismissed me."

I blushed. He came straight over here to see me! He didn't go get a drink with his friends, he didn't go home and rest, he came straight over here. For me!

A slow smile spread across my face. "That's sweet…"

He moved his hand and I felt its warmth now resting on my cheek. "You're certainly worth it." I was positive I was blushing even more now.

"There's a problem, though."

Sean looked surprised. "What? What is it?"

I laughed, my hand resting on his chest. "You definitely, definitely need a shower!"

"Do I?" He wrapped me up in a bear hug, an enormous grin breaking out.

"Sean!" I tried to protest but I could barely form words. I was laughing too hard. "C'mon, let me go!"

"Oh, but why?" I could hear the mischievousness in his tone. "I haven't had a hug all day!" He squeezed me again, then let me go.

"God, Sean!" I laughed. "Next time you want a hug before you've had a shower, go hug Commander Taylor!"

He made a face. "I'd rather hug a carno."

I giggled and smacked his arm. "That's a viable alternative…"

"Alright, I guess I should take your hint and go home to shower. But I will be back!" He turned to go.

"Don't take too long! I'll miss you too much!"

"I'll miss you more!" he called. I heard him exchange farewells with Dad and then I heard the door closing, indicating he had gone out.

Matt entered the room shortly after Sean left. As annoying as my brother liked to be, he at least had the decency to allow me time alone with my boyfriend.

"Ooooh, Addie!" His voice had the maturity of an eight year old, despite his sixteen years.

"Shut up," I rolled my eyes, getting ready to dole out dinner. Years of being the older sister had taught me how to deal with his teasing. "Don't make me hurt you!"

"Oh God! Your cooking's punishment enough!"

**A/N: Hooray! A third chapter! And we get to meet Sean Quinn for real, this time! I briefly mentioned his name last chapter but he gets some dialogue and we get to see his and Adelaide's relationship dynamic—sweet and playful! Kind of reminds you of Mark and Maddy, doesn't it? So drop a review, and remember: I would like ALL my readers to play nice with each other. No verbally assaulting one another! Thanks for reading! **


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: Another one up for you guys! I'm going to start going into the minds of some of the characters from the show, too (starting with Mark last chapter). This chapter's a bit long, but I hope you'll bear with me. And leave a review, please! **

**Maddy's POV**

RECAP: We all know and love Maddy Shannon from the show. Only now she's Maddy Reynolds, age 40, wife of Mark Reynolds, and she's working as Malcolm's right hand. She's also the mother of three (Adelaide, Matt, and Paul) and the aunt of two (Lauren and Austin, who we have yet to see). We haven't seen much of her yet in this story, so we'll get into her brain for a little bit. She still looks incredibly young, by the way—the definition of "graceful ager." Why? Because I just can't picture Naomi Scott (the actress) as a forty year old…and perhaps that's a good thing…

"Could you pass me that vial, Dr. Reynolds?" I looked at the man standing beside me—Dr. Martin Cossack, a short, red-haired man of thirty-two. We had both been assigned to this research project and it was creeping along ever-so-slowly. _I shouldn't be here! I should be at home with my husband and my kids! _

I handed the vial to him and he immediately filled it with some liquid sample, labeling the glass container before putting it into a rack of identical ones. "Dr. Cossack, how much longer do you think this will take?" I asked. Malcolm had just asked me to help the poor guy out a few hours ago and he was still getting me caught up on everything that was happening. He looked up at me, his hazel eyes showing uncertainty.

"I…I don't know, Dr. Reynolds. I'm sorry. But believe me, I'd rather be home, too. The problem is, we can't leave the samples sit overnight or all of the bacteria in them will die off."

"I understand," I replied easily. Dr. Cossack's research had been creeping along for days. He really needed the help. In truth, I probably would have offered it to him even if Malcolm hadn't asked me.

I was startled when someone came up behind me, arms encircling my waist. Evidently, Dr. Cossack was too, because he jumped when he saw the familiar face of my husband behind me. Mark didn't notice.

"I was worried about you," he hummed into my ear. "You're way overtime."

"I know," I sighed. "But Dr. Cossack needs help!" I indicated the scientist beside me. "We'll be done soon," I promised. Mark ran a finger through my hair and kissed my cheek.

"Try to hurry?" he asked me, a smile crossing his lips.

"I will."

"I love you!" He called, heading toward the lab's door.

"Love you more," I replied, turning back to extracting bacterial samples.

"Can I ask you something, Dr. Reynolds?" Dr. Cossack spoke up after a few minutes of diligent silence.

"What is it, Dr. Cossack?" I looked up.

"It's about…your sister…"

"Zoe?" _What did Dr. Cossack want with Zoe?_

"Yes. Zoe. I was wondering if she might be…seeing someone?" It took him a minute to work up the courage to say the last part.

I was stunned! Zoe often lamented that she was thirty and hadn't had much success in finding love! "You're interested in Zoe?"

"I think she's a beautiful, intelligent woman," Dr. Cossack told me, still evidently unsure of himself.

I had to bite back a smile. "Zoe is very much single," I assured him. A nervous grin appeared on his face. _Get ready, Zo. You've got a suitor!_

I made it home just before nine. The experiment was complete and the bacteria Dr. Cossack had discovered would help relieve stomach bugs, of this we were certain. Mark greeted me at the door with a kiss.

"I missed you," he told me.

"I missed you, too." I ventured into the house to find the rest of my family.

"Hi, Mom!" It was Matt who greeted me first.

"Hey, sweetie. How was today's training?"

"It went well. I've got good news!"

"What's that?" I asked, setting my work bag down.

"Commander Taylor has assigned me an interior patrol to help prepare me for the forces!"

"That's great!" I was proud of Matt. He had always wanted to be just like Mark. "Where's Paul?"

His face dropped for a minute, as if he was keeping some sort of secret from me. "In his room," he replied.

"Is he alright?"

"Yeah, he's fine," Matt told me unconvincingly.

"And where's Adelaide?"

"She went out with Sean for a bit."

"That's nice. Did you guys already eat?" I had already opened the fridge door at this point. Matt chuckled.

"Barely," came his response. "Adelaide made dinner."

"Oh." Adelaide's not a terribly good cook, but at least she tries.

"I'm going to turn in, if it's alright with you. I need to get an early start tomorrow morning," Matt spoke up, making a beeline for his bedroom. "Good night."

"Good night!" I called, pulling out some leftovers to reheat. I heard him bid his father good night as well. I sat down beside my husband on the living room sofa as soon as I had grabbed my dinner. It wasn't entirely inedible, but some parts of it were burnt beyond recognition.

"Adelaide's handiwork," Mark explained as he wrapped an arm around me. I snuggled deeper into his side.

"Well she's made some improvements to her cooking," I noted. He chuckled, his arm wrapping tighter around me.

**Adelaide's POV**

RECAP: Adelaide is the eldest of the Reynolds kids, age twenty. She has her mother's hair and her father's eyes. Although she is small and petite, she's a scrappy girl. She's not afraid to let you know exactly what she thinks of you, and she's definitely not afraid to stand up for herself. She works in the clinic and, as we learned, she's not a good cook. She's dating Sean Quinn.

Sean held my hand as we wandered through the orchards. Someone had told him that we would be able to see a comet later that evening, so we were waiting it out. In all my twenty years of life, I had never seen a comet.

I studied his face as we walked. His brown eyes glinted as the moon reflected off them. He gazed down at me and was about to say something when we were interrupted by a loud voice.

"Alright, what's going on over here?" I felt a strong hand clamp down on my shoulder and wheeled around to face the speaker. I was startled to find my grandfather staring back at me.

"Adelaide?" He seemed a little surprised to find me out here, in the middle of the orchards. Technically, we weren't allowed to be there—the orchards were closed at night to prevent the local teens from stealing the fruit to brew moonshine. The orchards were also well-patrolled, evidently.

"Hi, Grandpa," I offered him a weak smile.

"What are you doing here?" He asked me, his tone a mixture of confusion and surprise. "And who's this?" He looked at Sean, squinting in the darkness to see him better.

"Corporal Sean Quinn, sir," he snapped to attention.

"Quinn?" Grandpa looked dubiously at my boyfriend, instantly recognizing him. "What are you doing sneaking around the orchards with my granddaughter?" Sean gulped audibly.

"We were hoping to spot the comet, sir."

"So what is this, like some sort of date?"

"Actually, yes it is," I cut in, deciding to save Sean's skin. "Sean thought it would be romantic if we watched for the comet..."

Grandpa looked confused for a minute. "So let me get this straight—you're...dating Corporal Quinn?"

"Yes, Grandpa," I sighed. This is precisely why I hadn't told him in the first place.

"And no one felt the need to let me know this?"

"I'm sorry, sir," Sean resumed speaking. "I didn't mean to offend you in any way…"

"Save it," Grandpa told him. "Go ahead and finish your date." We both let out a sigh of relief, knowing full-well that he was only letting us go because I was his granddaughter. "But I promise you, Quinn—if you go breaking my granddaughter's heart, I'll go breaking your neck."

"Yes, sir. I won't, sir. I'd never, sir." The words came out in a jumbled flood. Grandpa seems to have that effect on people. He does this sort of thing all the time with the kids who get caught sneaking around after curfew. And according to Mom, he'd done the same thing with Dad when they were dating.

"That's what I like to hear. Carry on." And then he was gone, quickly as he came. Sean exhaled audibly once we were alone.

"Sorry about that," I apologized. "Grandpa's a little…overprotective."

"I'll say," Sean replied, running a hand through his sandy-colored crew cut. "I think I'm more afraid of Sheriff Shannon than I am of your dad…" his voice trailed off as he suddenly spotted something in the sky. "There it is!" he exclaimed, pointing at a bright light streaking across the sky.

I was in awe. There was something oddly serene about the little, white, blazing ball. I felt Sean's arm wrap around my shoulder and pull me in closer as we both looked up.

**Lauren's POV**

RECAP: Lauren is the eldest child of Josh and Skye Shannon. She's sixteen with the same hair and eyes as her mother. She is usually pretty private and serious, but she's got a major crush on Private John Kelly. With the soldiers, she's 'one-of-the-boys.' Lauren is musically gifted and has one younger brother—Austin.

It's another Thursday night, all alone. I had heard some of the 'looser' girls of the community giggling about who they were hooking up with for the evening—some of the sleazier soldiers, some guys off agricultural duty—your general, fair share of Terra Nova's disgusting individuals crawling with God-knows-what-kind-of-diseases. But not me. This girl doesn't play that game. So I was all alone. But at least I won't be the one infested with Chlamydia and herpes a few years from now…

Besides, John's the only one I'm interested in, sad as that sounds. At least he doesn't run around goofing off with all the other girls. He's cool like that. And he hates them as much as I do.

I sat down on the end of my bed, guitar in hand, and I began to play a few chords from a song I'd been working on. It was coming along, slowly but surely. My door opened suddenly, and I stopped. Austin stuck his head in.

"Lauren?"

"What?" I grumbled, annoyed that my brother had just barged in and interrupted my privacy. I can't write songs with people watching me!

"When are Mom and Dad getting home?"

"I don't know, Austin," I sighed, trying to keep in mind the fact that he was only twelve years old.

"Well I'm worried. And hungry."

"So go make yourself something," I shooed him out. "You know how to work a microwave." He disappeared from sight, closing the door behind him. I returned to my writing.

It was about an hour later when I was interrupted again, this time by a knock on my door. "Come in!" I called, setting the guitar down. Mom came inside.

"Hey!" She smiled.

"Hi," I uncrossed my legs and let them dangle from the edge of my bed.

"Thanks for taking care of Austin," she sat down beside me. "I know there's a bazillion other things you'd rather be doing…"

"No, not really," I sighed.

"Well I'm sure you could've found something to do with your friends…"

"Yeah, totally." _What friends? Other than the guys…_

"So…have you decided what kind of an internship you're going to apply for first?" Mom had been on about this whole internship thing for a while. I had graduated from the regular school levels and it was time to start receiving vocational training. The only problem was, I had no idea what I wanted to be. There were a lot of jobs in Terra Nova, but none that really appealed to me.

"Not yet."

Mom's hand closed over my shoulder. "Well you'll need to make a decision soon. Or at least start signing up for something…"

"Sure, Mom," I said, resigned.

"Alright. I'm gonna go help Austin with his homework," she got up to leave. I grabbed my guitar as soon as she was gone, this time playing whatever came to mind—a way to vent.

I love my parents. A lot. But Dad can be pretty overbearing sometimes. He always says how he did a lot of stupid stuff when he was my age and how he wants me to make smarter decisions than him. That's fine, but I need to learn on my own sometimes! And Mom is a whole separate issue. She only wants the best for me, I know, but she's so eager to have me sign up for an internship and get on with life. She's secretly hoping I'll be a doctor like her but I really don't have the stomach for that kind of work, just like Aunt Maddy. This whole thing was causing me to grow more distant from my mom. I know it. I know she knows it. It's not necessarily what I want, but there's no real way to get around it, to fix it. And that's the most frustrating thing of all…

**A/N: I'll leave you there for now. What do you think? I'm glad that the recaps help you guys keep track of everything—they're helping me, too, as I've quickly found out! The first few chapters are mostly to expose all of the major plotlines that will run throughout the story and to help familiarize you all with each character and his/her unique outlook and personalities, so if it seems like there's just more and more problems without solutions, I assure you it's only temporary. Everything will be developed over time. So please leave a review and I'll be sure to update soon! Thank you! **


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: Okay, so I'm sure some of you are surprised, BUT: there was a sudden outpouring of support for this story after I initially announced its discontinuation. In light of this, I've decided to press onwards with the story anyhow. I hope you guys will continue to give support so that I don't consider discontinuing it again. Please review if you want me to continue on! I need feedback! **

**PS: IMPORTANT: Justine's age has been changed to seventeen. Why? One, it's more realistic that she would be a soldier by that age, and two, so that Matt's friends can torment him for pursuing an older woman…**

**Justine's POV**

RECAP: Justine is Taylor's seventeen year old aide-de-camp, sort of like a next-gen Lieutenant Washington, only younger, less experienced, and there's no sexual tension (because that would be wrong…). She's beautiful with dark hair, green eyes, and a tan skin tone. She's half Irish, half Spanish. She's Matt's love interest and they are good friends, but neither wants to make a move for fear of making their friendship awkward. Her friends tease her for falling for a younger guy. His friends hound him mercilessly for pursuing an older woman.

I breathed in the fresh air, crisp and cool. I love the spring months—the air is always clear. I was aware that I was sweating like a man from the hard run but, let's face it, I'm a soldier. It happens. I slowed my jog to a walk as I donned my jacket, pulled my hair back into a messy bun, and approached HQ, cursing myself for having slept in rather than waking up early to work out. Now I had to report to work without showering.

"Good morning, Commander," I greeted Commander Taylor, who nodded curtly at me.

"Morning Private. Listen, I need you to do me favor…"

_Great. Here we go. Get coffee, shred papers…_

"I need you to take Matt Reynolds out on an interior patrol—show him the ropes…"

My heart almost stopped. I was going to get to spend all shift with Matt _and _take a patrol. When did I die and go to Heaven?

"Yes, sir!" I grinned, snapping into a salute.

Commander Taylor smiled. "Try to keep your excitement under control, okay?"

"I'll do my best sir."

"Alright, you're briefed for the day. Go report for your patrol!"

I relaxed my posture. "Yes, sir." _Crap. I look like death. _

I reported to Sergeant Dunham for my patrol briefing.

"You and Cadet Reynolds will be patrolling the colony from HQ, through the marketplace, and into the south end of the orchards. Corporal Quinn is taking Cadet Dugan on the opposite side and your parties should meet in the middle."

"Yes, Sergeant," I acknowledged. But I was much too distracted looking for Matt. _Pull yourself together! This is work! _

"That's all then, Private. Good luck."

"Thanks, captain," I saluted him. He pulled the map off the hood of his rover, hopped in, and drove off, leaving me to wait for Matt.

* * *

><p><strong>Matt's POV<strong>

RECAP: Matthew Washington Reynolds, age sixteen, is Mark and Maddy's middle child and oldest son. He is fiercely loyal and protective of his family and friends. He's the spitting image of his father—same dark hair, blue eyes, tan skin—and he's in-training to become a soldier in Terra Nova. Matt is interested in Justine Carlisle, but is reluctant to ask her out for fear that their friendship would be jeopardized. His friends give him hell because she's older than him.

_First day of patrol. Just smile, follow orders, be polite, and don't screw up. _I was aware the smile on my face was tight. I was nervous as hell! I wasn't a soldier yet, still a cadet. My final test was a week away and the Commander had already deemed me worthy to work on a patrol! I briefly wondered who my mentor would be. Perhaps it would be Sergeant Dunham. He was a good friend of Dad's, and very dependable. Then again, it could have been Captain Reilly, calm and focused under pressure. She was definitely a good, reliable source. Sergeant Curran was also a possibility. He was well-versed in the ways of the military. It wouldn't be Dad—he was in charge of the perimeter patrols. Part of me entertained the idea that Justine would be my mentor, but I somehow doubted it. The Commander kept her inside most of the time, which was a shame. He was doing the colony a disservice by keeping her beauty indoors all day long.

I entered the command center exactly one minute early—early enough to make an impression but not too early as to seem desperate. I had a plan. "Good morning, sir," I stood at attention and Commander Taylor looked me over, sizing me up.

"Good morning, Cadet. You're a minute early," he seemed impressed.

"Yes, sir," I smiled nervously.

"Alright, you're taking the interior patrol from here, through the marketplace, and into the south side of the orchards. Here's your briefing card," he held out a card to me, which I accepted. "You'll meet your mentor downstairs." He looked me in the eye as he set it, and there was definitely some sort of hint there.

"Thank you sir," I saluted, heading for the stairs.

"Good luck, Cadet."

I glanced down at the card, which held all the info he'd just recounted to me. And then my heart nearly stopped. I read and re-read the name listed under "mentor." _Private Justine Carlisle. _My eyes nearly bugged out of my head. Justine was my mentor! I'd be spending an entire shift with her!

Dad's words were ringing in my ears. _"You're not exactly subtle, son." _The Commander had to have done this on purpose—he was known to have a sense of humor occasionally.

Justine met me outside, standing by a rover. The sunlight glinted off the vehicle's windows and cast the most flattering light on her. She was stunning with her long, dark hair pulled back into a practical and professional ponytail. Her green eyes were shimmering.

I cleared my throat and swallowed my heart. "Good morning, Private Carlisle," I greeted.

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, _Cadet_," she began pointedly. "First of all, I don't really care if we're on duty or not. I'm Justine."

"Good morning, Justine," I re-greeted, and she rolled her eyes again.

"Ready to get started?"

"Born ready!"

"Can I trust you to drive my baby—she just got detailed…"

"I think I can manage driving a rover. I've done it before," I told her.

"Isabella is _not _just any old rover. She's _my _rover," she handed me the keys. "So treat her well."

"Aye, aye, ma'am," I grinned at her and she shot me a death glare, rendered slightly ineffective because she was trying not to smile.

"Okay," she said after we had both gotten in. "So we're just going to drive from here to the marketplace, disembark, do a quick weapons check, and then we're patrolling the markets for an hour. After that, we walk the path to the southern fields of the orchards. Got it?"

I nodded my head.

"Good. Then let's go…"

* * *

><p><strong>Lauren's POV<strong>

RECAP: Lauren is the eldest child of Josh and Skye Shannon. She's sixteen with the same hair and eyes as her mother. She is usually pretty private and serious, but she's got a major crush on Private John Kelly. With the soldiers, she's 'one-of-the-boys.' Lauren is musically gifted and has one younger brother—Austin.

"Hey!" John popped up behind me on the bench and I jumped.

"You scared the crap out of me!"

He held his hands up in surrender. "Won't happen again…"

"It better not," I fixed him with a glare. "What's up?"

"You busy?" he asked, sitting down next to me on the bench just outside the orchards.

"Nah," I tried to look casual but my heart was racing.

"I was wondering if you'd like to do something with me this weekend," he said casually.

"Like what?" I asked.

"Whatever. Anything you want to do. I'm game," he shrugged.

_Was he asking me out?_

I thought about it a moment. "Yeah. I'd like that." I smiled and nodded my head for emphasis. My heart felt ready to burst from my chest.

John smiled back. "Great. I'll talk to you later, okay? We'll plan everything then." He got up and started for the command center.

"See you later!" I sat back and smiled, my head nearly whacking into the back of the bench before I realized that it was there.

But I was still bothered by something. Was this a date? Or was it just as friends? I decided to find out from Matt—he was best friends with John. Surely he'd know…

* * *

><p><strong>John's POV<strong>

RECAP: Private John Kelly, age sixteen. He's a recent enlistee who passed the training courses in record time and found himself assigned to serve under Mark Reynolds. He has blue eyes and dark hair, lean and well-built. He's good friends with the members of his unit, and with Matt Reynolds. Unbeknownst to him, Lauren has a big crush on him. He's got a crush on her, too, though!

My heart was still pounding double-time. Or triple-time. Maybe even quadruple. I've faced down charging carnos, I've scaled fifty-foot rock faces, I've eaten live insects, and I've even survived being reprimanded by Commander Taylor for forgetting to clean my weapon one night. But I've never done anything that made me as nervous as talking to Lauren Shannon.

She's young, intelligent, sensitive, and beautiful. And she's WAY out of my league. I'd talked to Matt about her a few times—he's her cousin after all. He was generally supportive of me trying to go out with her. Apparently there have been some sleazeballs who've tried to "claim" her for their own before. I know Lauren though. She's not the type to go for them.

Lauren and I have been friends for…well, forever. She hangs out with us after our shift. She's cool like that. She's awesome at foosball and billiards (probably because her dad owns the bar) and her music is amazing. If I had half her talent, I'd probably have chosen the entertainment industry instead of the military.

In truth, I'd been wanting to ask her out forever. It was well-known within the unit that I had an interest in her. That's why none of the others went after her. Well that, and the fact that her dad had the power to cut off any of her suitors from ever setting foot in his bar again. And her grandfather is Sheriff Shannon. That's also a pretty frightening prospect. I told Matt and he snickered. I wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not, so I asked him. And he refused to tell me. So naturally, I harassed him about going after Justine Carlisle, a full _year _older than him! That shut him up pretty quick.

I asked Lauren if she wanted to do something and, like the idiot I am, I forgot to suggest something. So I basically just told her to pick something. And to be honest, I'd be happy doing whatever she wants to do. I didn't want to scare her off in case she wants to be just friends—she's pretty cool with all of us so it's a distinct possibility—so I just asked her if she wanted to spend time. The words "date" or "going out" never left my lips. But it would be wonderful if she thought of it like a date. Guess I'll find out soon enough…

Off in the distance, I could see Matt approaching with Justine. It was his first day of interior patrol—he's in training and he'll be graduating in a week. I smirked to myself, making a mental note to give him hell over spending his entire shift with Private Carlisle…

**A/N: We get a new perspective here—John Kelly! He's been mentioned before, now we get into his head. And, teaser: next chapter we'll get into Zoe's head and walk around for a bit. BUT: the only way you'll get to see the next chapter is if there's reviews letting me know you're still interested. I'm continuing this story due to your outpour of support when I nearly cancelled it. I'm expecting a similar outpour now that I'm continuing. Seriously, DO IT! Please and thank you :)**


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: So it's been quite some time since my last update, hasn't it (nervous laugh). Sorry about that. I've noticed that this story has a relatively small group of followers, but that group of followers is very loyal, which makes me happy! I'm like most businesses: I value loyal, repeat customers. In light of that, I'm keeping on with this story for the foreseeable future! It's just that I got sidetracked writing updates for my more well-received stories. But fear not! I'm back, and, as promised, we'll start with Zoe's POV…**

**Zoe's POV**

RECAP: Zoe, the youngest of the original Shannon kids! She's thirty years old now, very similar looking to her mother and sister, and she's working in the infirmary as Skye's (her sister in law) right hand. Despite being intelligent and compassionate, she has yet to find anyone special in her life…for now…

I looked up as my sister entered the clinic, a sunny look on her face.

"Hey, Z!" she greeted.

"Hi," I glanced up briefly, but I had to keep an eye on the medications I was mixing. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing…" Maddy rocked back and forth on her feet, shoving her hands into her coat pockets and trying hard not to grin.

"Why are you so happy?" I questioned, not bitterly but out of curiosity.

"Because…" she teased, "maybe I know something. Something you don't."

"Okay…" I wasn't sure what to make of it. My sister knows _tons _of things I don't.

"Something that might affect you…"

"Are you going to tell me?" I asked, determined not to show her I was eager to learn what secrets she was keeping from me.

"It's about someone…a guy someone…"

I rolled my eyes. "Maddy, please. Between you and Mom it's like I never get any peace. I've told you before, I barely have time enough in one day to complete everything I need to get done. I just don't have time…"

It's true. My schedule is tightly packed. It isn't easy being a doctor, and I also double as a pharmacist since I received special training. I had dated a few guys before, but it had never amounted to anything. I'm still friends with some of them, like Sam Marcos, and we get coffee every now and then, but I just don't have any time for relationships right now.

"What if I said he was intelligent? And hard-working? And respectable?"

"Maddy, there's tons of guys out there like that. Please stop trying to set me up." I was begging now as I poured the solution I was mixing into a larger beaker and started heating it up.

"But what if he expressed interest in you?" Maddy cut in quickly. I stopped. Usually she was trying to set me up with random guys she thought would be 'cute.' Very rarely did there happen to be a guy who was interested in me first. Chalk it up to being a busy, independent woman I guess.

"Who is he?" I finally took the bait.

"His name is Dr. Martin Cossack. He works with me in the lab."

Dr. Cossack—I had met him a few times before. We collaborated once while trying to discover the medicinal properties of a newly-found herb. I won't lie—he's definitely handsome. I like his hair…but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. I hardly knew the guy. I'm not one to immediately discount people, but at the same time I'm perfectly happy where I'm at in life. Mostly.

"So…?" Maddy looked at me expectantly.

"Dr. Cossack is nice," I finally said. "But that doesn't mean anything."

"Oh come on, Z! You tell me all the time how you wish you could just meet one guy who can respect your commitment to your job! Dr. Cossack can, I know it! His job takes a big commitment too!"

I retrieved a few more reagents from the cabinet and added them to the medicine I was making. "That's all well and good, Maddy, but I've only spoken to him a handful of times! I hardly know him."

"Does that mean you'll give him a chance?"

I thought for a bit. "It means I'd like to talk to him and get to know him a bit better before I go any further."

"Good enough!" Maddy grinned. "I gotta get to work. See you later!"

"Bye," I called after her, adding the last ingredient to the medicinal treatment.

_So, Dr. Cossack, huh? Well there are certainly plenty of worse people out there…_

I gasped as there was a puff of smoke and a soft bang. Looking down, I realized I had added far too much of the reagent. _Damn! I was getting distracted…_

**Paul's POV**

RECAP: Paul is the youngest of the Reynolds kids, age fourteen. He looks a lot like his dad but he has his mom's personality. Insanely smart but timid, Paul's gone through some bullying in the first chapter. Matt made him promise to tell their dad about it, but Paul is reluctant because he's afraid his dad will be disappointed in him.

School wasn't getting any easier for me. Kyle Dugan decided to continue with the torture in the days following "Broken Plex Day." I told Mom that I had fallen and someone accidentally stepped on it. I know she's suspicious—she's far from stupid—but she accepted what I told her. I did get a new one, and near as I can tell Matt's been keeping his promise not to say anything.

"Reynolds!" I heard Kyle's voice as he approached, his gaggle of idiots following close behind, snickering like two year olds.

"What, Kyle?" I asked him, not really looking up. I made sure to hide my new Plex, lest he get any fresh ideas.

"Heard your parents bought you a new Plex," he sneered.

I shrugged and kept my eyes firmly on the ground. "Maybe…"

"So what are you reading now? Physician science?"

"One, it's _physical _science, and two, I'm not reading anything right now," I corrected him.

"Listen to this dork!" Kyle laughed coldly to his evil henchmen. I got up to leave and he shoved me. I fell to the ground with a muffled _oomph_. I swear he would have kicked me but, thankfully, there were two saviors looking out for me right then.

"What's going on?" a voice rang out, clear and crisp. I looked up and saw two soldiers—Privates Carlisle and Kelly—approaching. Kyle blanched a few shades paler and I smirked inwardly. Finally! Someone _he's _afraid of.

"What's going on?" Private Carlisle repeated, her green eyes surveying the scene. And it probably didn't look very good for Kyle and his dunce-cap pals.

"N…nothing!" Kyle stammered quickly.

Private Kelly helped me up and I dusted myself off, a bit ashamed at having to be rescued by two people. "You alright, Paul?" he asked me, handing me my backpack which had fallen off when I was shoved.

"I'm fine," I said quickly, feeling my face heat up.

"Kyle Dugan is it?" Private Carlisle asked Kyle.

"Y…yeah…" his eyes were wide with terror and he kept twitching and running his hand through his mop of blond hair, making it stick up at weird angles. He looked crazier than usual.

"So do you want to tell me why I came over here and found Paul Reynolds on the ground with you standing over him?" She sounded angry.

Kyle hesitated. "H…he fell down and…I was…I was just helping him up," he managed to finally stutter out.

"Is that right?" Private Kelly asked me. Private Carlisle turned around to face me too. Kyle gave me a look that clearly communicated that I better agree with him.

I really wanted to tell them right then. They're soldiers, and they're also family friends, heck Matt's in love with Private Carlisle and Private Kelly is his best friend. They're people I can trust. But I chickened out. Kyle could do a lot of damage to me if I said anything against him. "Yeah, that's right," I said, my eyes cast down. "He was just coming to help me up. I tripped." When you're a bully victim, lying comes easy to you. You have to lie to spare yourself.

The two soldiers exchanged some sort of look, and Private Carlisle looked unconvinced. "Paul, is that really what happened?" she asked me, and I could feel her scrutinizing me closely.

"Yes," I said quietly.

"What?" she asked, leaning closer to hear me better.

"Yes," I repeated louder. "It's true, Private Carlisle."

"We're friends," she told me. I guess she was hoping that if she said that I would tell her what was really going on. "You can call me Justine."

"That's what happened," I shrugged, avoiding her eyes and her first name. I would feel guilty if I used her first name like we're old friends. Old friends don't lie to each other. If I looked in her eyes then I'd feel like I had to tell her, too.

"You sure?" This time Private Kelly spoke up. Kyle started inching away. "Don't move!" he commanded, and everyone sort of froze. It must feel good to have power like that—the power to just make people stop when you say stop.

"Yes, I'm sure, Private Kelly…"

"John," he corrected me, obviously taking a page from Private Carlisle's book on making people talk.

Again I avoided looking him in the eyes or calling him by first name. "I fall a lot. I'm clumsy."

There was silence for a while, and then finally Private Carlisle spoke. "Okay. I guess that's it then," she turned and gave a meaningful look to Kyle. "You and your friends should go home—I'm sure you've got homework or something." _That's funny. Like Kyle's ever done his homework! _

"Y…yes, ma'am…" I delighted in seeing my tormentor shiver a little. Maybe he'd think twice about doing it to me again. "I'm…I'm going."

"Good." And then Kyle and his minions were gone. Private Carlisle turned to me. "They're gone now, Paul. You can tell us what really happened."

I was getting impatient now. I was scared. I was scared and I was ashamed to admit what was happening. "I told you!" I snapped. "I fell down and Kyle came to help me up!"

"Fine," Private Carlisle gave up. "I don't really see that happening but if you say so. Do you want a ride home?" she jerked her head in the direction of her parked rover. I nodded and slung my backpack over my shoulder and followed the two soldiers to the truck. It was a silent two-minute ride home.

**Justine's POV**

RECAP: Justine is Taylor's seventeen year old aide-de-camp, sort of like a next-gen Lieutenant Washington, only younger, less experienced, and there's no sexual tension (because that would be wrong…). She's beautiful with dark hair, green eyes, and a tan skin tone. She's half Irish, half Spanish. She's Matt's love interest and they are good friends, but neither wants to make a move for fear of making their friendship awkward. Her friends tease her for falling for a younger guy. His friends hound him mercilessly for pursuing an older woman.

Private Kelly and I drove Paul home in the rover. I didn't buy his story for a minute, especially given what Matt had told me about Kyle Dugan's bullying tendencies. I'm almost a hundred percent certain that Paul was pushed. I've never been bullied before. I guess I'm lucky like that. But I guess it's kind of tough to admit there's someone out there inflicting fear and pain on you. I know my pride would be stung. If Paul's ever going to come clean and tell someone, he has to do it on his own.

"Here were are," I announced, throwing the truck into park outside the Reynolds' home. "Do you want help with your stuff?" I offered.

"No thanks," he politely refused, grabbing his bag and making for the door of the house. It opened and his older sister, Adelaide, stepped out.

I turned to Kelly. "We should probably tell her about…"

"You think so?" he asked, obviously as uncertain as I was about what to do here.

"You and I both know he didn't just fall on his own."

"Good point," he conceded, unbuckling his belt and stepping out of the door-less vehicle as I slipped out of the driver's side.

"Adelaide!" I greeted. "Can we talk to you for a sec?"

Matt and Paul's sister stepped closer, leaving Paul by the doorway. "Go inside, Paul," she told him, sensing whatever it was should be kept private. "What's wrong?" she asked me, concerned.

"It's about Paul," I told her.

"I figured. He looks pretty upset. What happened?"

"Near as we can tell," Kelly spoke up, "he got into some sort of confrontation with Kyle Dugan today."

"Again?" Adelaide asked, looking pretty upset herself.

"Again?" Kelly asked, his voice clearly reflecting his surprise.

"Yes, again," Adelaide sighed, looking from me to Kelly and then back. "This has been going on for _way _too long. What did the little brat do to Paul this time?"

"We're not sure," I took over the conversation again. "As far as we can tell, Paul got shoved to the ground just before we got there. It's a good thing, too, because it probably would have gotten worse if we hadn't stopped it."

"Thanks for that, Justine. At least someone's looking out for him."

"Have you told your parents?" I asked.

Adelaide shook her head. "Paul asked us not to. Matt made him swear he'd tell our dad. He just hasn't worked up the nerve yet, I guess."

I nodded understandingly. I know that if something like this were happening to me I'd be reluctant to share it. "We'll keep an eye out for anymore trouble," I promised.

"Thanks so much. Both of you," Adelaide thanked us sincerely.

"It's our job," Kelly told her. Adelaide nodded.

"I should go check on him…"

"Yeah, we need to get out of here anyway. There's still a half hour left on our patrol shift." We exchanged brief farewells and then Kelly and I were back on the rover. But this whole thing was eating at me for the rest of the day.

**Adelaide's POV**

RECAP: Adelaide is the eldest of the Reynolds kids, age twenty. She has her mother's hair and her father's eyes. Although she is small and petite, she's a scrappy girl. She's not afraid to let you know exactly what she thinks of you, and she's definitely not afraid to stand up for herself. She works in the clinic and, as we learned, she's not a good cook. She's dating Sean Quinn.

I told Matt what had happened the second he walked through the door. We may have sworn not to say anything to Mom or Dad, but he couldn't stop us from sharing with each other.

"He was _shoved _by Kyle Dugan today?" Matt repeated, his brow creased. It was weird how much he looked like Dad when he did that.

"Yep," I responded. "Justine thinks Kyle would've kicked him too if she and John hadn't shown up when they did."

"Thank God they did show up," Matt exulted, and I had to agree. Who knows what might have happened if they hadn't?

"Matt, how long before we just tell Mom and Dad already? I don't think he's going to do it on his own."

Matt shook his head. "Adelaide, he's got to do this on his own. Besides, we promised."

"So what? We just let them beat him up every single freaking day until he finally decides he can't take it anymore?" I realized my voice was getting louder and louder.

"Give him some time," Matt replied confidently. "I'm sure he's going to come clean eventually."

"I hope you're right," I replied.

Paul's my youngest brother and Matt and I have always looked out for him. It bothered me to no end that there was some kid running around thinking he could just do and say whatever he wanted to our little brother! Paul isn't a fighter—I'd be surprised if he even talked back to Kyle—and he lets himself get taken advantage of in the name of keeping the peace. On top of that, he creates all this pressure on himself to be just like Dad and Matt. It took everything I had not to say something at dinner that night. Paul was silent, as usual, and he excused himself pretty early. Mom and Dad looked at him worriedly. Things were coming to a head.

**A/N: FORESHADOWING! Yes, yes, yes Paul is going to come clean eventually. Just so you know, I'm basing his experiences loosely off of my own from a point in my life. I'm hoping to touch on each different personality type a little bit with different characters—hopefully everyone will find someone they can relate to. Ok, so like I said I want to apologize for such a long hiatus and I also want to thank that small, loyal group of readers who follow this story. This is entirely dedicated to you. Please review! **


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: Reviews for last chapter were disappointing, guys (tsk, tsk, tsk) but anyway…I was inboxed with an idea from wonderful reader Kris56. Kris suggested doing a story in which everyone's least favorite Terra Novan Katrina Coleman (please read "Trouble in Paradise" if you are unfamiliar with this character) returns after an extended stay in Terra Nova's loony bin. I liked this idea and had planned on doing a oneshot about it eventually, but Kris suggested bringing in the Reynolds kids so I just knew it had to become part of this story. So yeah, Katrina Coleman will now be written in as yet another antagonist. Hope all ye loyal readers are still following the story! Review, so I know I'm not just publishing for nothing! **

**Adelaide's POV**

RECAP: Adelaide is the eldest of the Reynolds kids, age twenty. She has her mother's hair and her father's eyes. Although she is small and petite, she's a scrappy girl. She's not afraid to let you know exactly what she thinks of you, and she's definitely not afraid to stand up for herself. She works in the clinic and, as we learned, she's not a good cook. She's dating Sean Quinn.

As I expected, Paul didn't say anything to Mom or Dad that night. Matt, as usual, just told me to leave it. Paul wouldn't talk unless he wanted to—that was his logic. If Kyle Dugan were just a few years older and a little less frail, I'd gladly kick his ass.

I reported for my shift at eight, as usual. Grandma was in and out, checking up on patients and staffers. Aunt Skye was performing surgery and Aunt Zoe was in the labs mixing more allergy meds—we're gearing up for a rough season now that spring's here. Long story short, I was pretty much left to take care of walk-ins. My first customer of the day was a nice girl—Jess Sharma off agriculture. She sprained her wrist when she took a fall from one of the fences. I wrapped it, handed her an excuse note, and sent her on her way with some painkillers and instructions to ice it every half hour.

Sean stopped in at just past ten. At first I kind of freaked out because I thought he got hurt, but he just wanted to check up on me—see how I was doing. I promised to meet him for lunch later and he left, mostly because Captain Reilly was barking at him from over the comm-link to get back to work.

I think it must have been about eleven-thirty when my first notable patient waltzed in. She looked to be about my parents' age. She was short but petite, sparkly blue eyes, long, brown hair. She was pale, but other than that she was quite pretty. She smiled brightly as she took a seat in the waiting room.

"I can see you on bed 4," I told her, grabbing my Plex and indicating she should follow me. She hopped up on the bed.

"I'm Dr. Adelaide Reynolds," I introduced myself. Since the woman was unfamiliar to me, I figured she didn't know who I was either. She seemed to perk up at the name.

"Reynolds?" she repeated.

I nodded my head. "Yes ma'am. I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name?"

"Like…Mark Reynolds…?"

"My father," I told her, getting a bit impatient. "What did you say your name was?"

"I thought you looked familiar. You have your father's eyes."

"So I've been told." If I didn't sound impatient before, I was definitely sounding impatient now.

"Aren't you a bit young to be a doctor?"

"I'm sorry but how is that relevant? I completed my schooling at sixteen like everyone else. I've got the proper credentials and training. And I'm twenty! Now please, Miss, I need your name so I can put it down in the records."

"Right, I'm sorry. My name's Coleman. Katrina Coleman."

"K-A-T-R-I-N-A?" I asked, spelling each letter to ensure I got the name correctly. She nodded and smiled. Something about the name rang a bell…"It says you've been in custody for a while," I noted, looking at the records that came up. A while? Try twenty five years!

"I just got released, actually," Ms. Coleman told me sweetly.

"It says you were classified mentally unstable," I told her. The fact did nothing to help convince me there wasn't a serious psycho sitting in front of me. But as a doctor I had to serve _everyone_. Even psychos.

Again, she nodded. "I received a _lot _of therapy while in prison. I'm a changed woman now."

"Uh-huh. Well, Ms. Coleman…"

"Please, call me Katrina," she requested.

"Ok, Katrina. Well it's nice that you're out of the brig. What can I do for you?"

"I was told I would need a physical and psychological evaluation from someone in the clinic."

"I'm licensed to perform both," I said honestly. "I can do a physical now but the psychological will have to be scheduled at a later date. Is that okay?"

"Of course," Katrina replied easily.

I began the check-up. She was a bit too thin and she had a vitamin-D deficiency, but other than that she seemed no worse for wear after spending almost twenty-five _years _in the brig. Her records didn't indicate what she had done to land her there for so long but it had to have been pretty serious. I handed her some vitamin supplements and filled out a doctor's note to give to security. "Alright," I said, signing my name down on the slip. "That should do it. Just check back soon to set up an appointment for your psych exam," I handed her the paper and she accepted it before hopping off the bed.

"You know," she said, right before leaving. "You remind me of someone else, too…who did you say your mother was?"

"My mom?" I was a little confused. Why was she asking about my family? "Her name's Madelyn Reynolds."

"Formerly Maddy Shannon?" Katrina guessed.

My heart skipped a beat. Something wasn't right here. I nodded slowly.

"We used to be friends," Katrina said after a minute, sensing my alarm. "You look a lot like her, too."

"Thank you," I said after another brief pause. "Have a good day."

**Sean's POV**

RECAP: I don't think we've formally met Sean Quinn yet, as in we haven't gone a-walking in his shoes. Sean is Adelaide's twenty-one-year-old boyfriend, and his rank is Corporal. He has dark brown eyes and sandy-colored hair. He is very well-respected by his fellow soldiers and by his CO, none other than Mark Reynolds himself. Sean has a tendency to be guarded while in uniform but is relaxed and even downright goofy when he's near Adelaide. Mark makes him nervous, and Jim scares the living Jesus out of him.

I was already in the market place when Adelaide approached at just past twelve fifteen. She had changed out of her clinic scrubs and into a baggy sweatshirt. She was twisting her ponytail, which was slung over her shoulder. It was her nervous habit. Something was distressing her.

"What's wrong?" I asked, meeting her and putting my hand on her shoulder, matching her pace as we headed for the prepared food stalls.

"Nothing…" she mumbled, looking down and depriving me of the opportunity to see those awesome blue eyes.

"You know that's not fooling me, right Adelaide?" She gave me a blank look. "You're twisting your hair. You only do that when you're nervous about something."

She looked at her hands, still incriminatingly fumbling with her dark ponytail. She sighed. "Guess you know me too well." I grinned proudly. "Okay fine. So some lady came in to the clinic and asked for a physical. She just got out of the brig too after a really long stay—she was deemed mentally unstable. And she started asking me about my family…"

I shrugged. "Maybe she's just trying to be nice. Sometimes people who've been in the brig a while are like that. They're trying to reestablish contact with the citizens. I've seen it happen before." I tried to offer a logical explanation that would also calm her down. And it was true: a lot of convicts—not that there are that many in Terra Nova—try to compensate for whatever landed them in the brig in the first place."

"No, that's not it. Her name was familiar but…I don't know," she shook her head as we approached a vendor. "She said she was friends with my mom, but I don't think that's why the name was familiar…"

I placed our order and we took a nearby table for two. I grabbed her hand from across the table. "What's her name?"

"Coleman," Adelaide told me, and I suddenly perked up. "Katrina Coleman."

"She's out?" I was surprised. Commander Taylor kept her locked up in a secluded area, away from most ordinary prisoners, even. Every so often I'd have to take her meals to her and she was batshit crazy.

Adelaide's eyes widened at my surprise. "Why? Should she still be locked up?"

I shook my head. "Guess not. But she was supposed to be in for a long time."

"Twenty-five years isn't long?"

"Damn. She was in there that long?"

Adelaide nodded. "You know her, Sean?"

"Vaguely," I admitted. "She was in there for attempted murder if I remember correctly."

"There was a MURDERER in my exam room?" Adelaide looked ready to freak out now.

"No, no! Relax!" I tightened my grip on her hand to keep her from jumping out of her chair. "If I remember correctly, she was in for attempted murder but it was because she was completely unhinged. She seemed fine now, right?"

"I guess. I'm supposed to conduct a psych exam on her ASAP. Then we'll really find out…"

The vendor called out our number and I rose to retrieve our lunch. Ziff may not be the most appealing fish to look at, but it certainly tastes good. I took the head off of Adelaide's. She can't eat anything that's still staring at her. But that didn't mean I couldn't have my fun.

"Hey, I've got a problem that I need you to check out for me?" I asked as she chewed her food thoughtfully.

"Yeah, sure. What is it?" she asked, swallowing. I held my hand up, the Ziff's mouth clamped around it. "Sean!" she half-screamed, half-groaned. I laughed, removing the head and putting it back into my plate. She shot me a look that made me laugh even harder, until she sent a torrent of crumbled napkins at my face.

**Justine's POV**

RECAP: Justine is Taylor's seventeen year old aide-de-camp. She's beautiful with dark hair, green eyes, and a tan skin tone. She's half Irish, half Spanish. She's Matt's love interest and they are good friends, but neither wants to make a move for fear of making their friendship awkward. Her friends tease her for falling for a younger guy. His friends hound him mercilessly for pursuing an older woman.

Matt and I were just finishing up our third day of interior patrol when a woman approached us. I sized her up quickly, stowing my weapon in the back seat of Isabella (my rover). She looked to be about forty, give or take. She was slight, had blue eyes and curly brown hair, and she was incredibly pale. As she came closer, I recognized her as Katrina Coleman, the psycho that had been released after passing an initial psychological evaluation.

"Who's that?" Matt asked me, evidently unfamiliar with the seedier folks of the colony.

"Katrina Coleman," I told him quietly so the woman wouldn't hear. "Total loon. They just let her go a few days ago."

Matt's blue eyes widened as the woman came very close. "Can I help you?" he asked politely.

"You look really familiar—like a soldier that I knew way back when I was a teenager. Do you know him?"

Matt looked uncertain. "I'm not sure—I'd need a name." I had a feeling he'd already deduced who she was looking for. He's the spitting image of his dad, after all.

"His name was Reynolds…Mark Reynolds," the woman looked curiously at Matt's nametag. "M. Reynolds," she said, reading it. Her fingers gently brushed the metallic plate and Matt almost recoiled at her pallid hand. "Are you Mark Reynolds, too?" she looked spellbound and I swear if no one was watching she probably would've touched him too.

"No," Matt tried to keep a straight face but it was clear that this woman was unnerving him. "That's my father. I'm Cadet Matthew Reynolds."

"Another Reynolds? I just met your sister in the clinic. You look so much like your father I'd swear you were him," she reached out and fingered his nameplate again. Enough was enough.

"Okay, Miss, is there something you need from Cadet Reynolds?" I interrupted, and she turned to face me. Matt breathed a sigh of relief.

"Nice to meet you," Katrina Coleman stuck her hand out. "I'm Katrina Coleman, I don't think we've met."

"Private Justine Carlisle," I said, shaking her hand gingerly. "Can we help you with something?"

"No, I suppose not," Katrina sighed. "I just wanted to know when _Mark _Reynolds would be getting off of his shift."

"Why do you need to know?" I questioned. If memory serves, her reason for incarceration had something to do with Captain Reynolds. And even if it didn't, this cougar should get locked up for the way she was feeling Matt up!

"I'm…an old friend. Just wanted to see him, that's all."

"Well I don't know when Captain Reynolds gets off his shift," I lied. He always works the same shift unless there's a mission. "You could try checking in with Command. Maybe they can tell you more."

"Uh…no. That's, that's quite alright," Katrina muttered, seemingly afraid of going near the command centre again. "I'll try some other time, then."

I nodded and the woman walked off.

"She gives me the creeps," Matt whispered to me.

"Me too," I replied. "And she was _definitely _getting way too touchy-feely with you. No woman her age should be touching a guy your age like that."

Matt nodded. "How does she know my dad?"

I shrugged. "If I remember correctly, the whole reason she got locked up had something to do with your parents."

"Really? I've never heard either of them mention her name before…"

"We can look it up when we get back to command," I suggested.

He agreed. "But I'm driving." I rolled my eyes and boarded on the passenger side.

**Lauren's POV**

RECAP: Lauren is the eldest child of Josh and Skye Shannon. She's sixteen with the same hair and eyes as her mother. She is usually pretty private and serious, but she's got a major crush on Private John Kelly. With the soldiers, she's 'one-of-the-boys.' Lauren is musically gifted and has one younger brother—Austin.

I stared at my closet. Suddenly, everything was inadequate. Too short. Too sparkly. Too old. Too frilly. _Damn, I really need to rethink what I buy!_ I'm not sure why, but I was dead nervous about tonight. John and I were attending a little music event they were having. Open mic. He thought I'd enjoy it and to be honest, I _love _the idea. Maybe I'll even get up there and perform my latest song. Couldn't hurt. But I wasn't going to get very far if I didn't find _something _to wear.

Okay, so it wasn't an official date because neither of us really talked about that, but I decided I should treat it like a date just in case. Austin entered my room, as usual without knocking. Now, I love this little guy. He's the man. But sometimes, he needs to back off when I'm busy.

"Lauren…?"

"Not now, Austin, I'm kind of having a crisis here."

"But…"

"Not now!" I looked up from my closet. He was staring at me impatiently. "Alright, fine. What is it?"

"There's someone at the door…"

My heart sped up. Was it John? He was early?

"She's looking for Mom."

I breathed a sigh of relief. If John saw me like this, I'd probably die on the spot. "Okay, fine. I'm coming." I stepped out of my room and into the foyer. I was greeted by the sight of a woman, probably in her late-thirties or early-forties. Her hair was curly and brown, and she looked kind of spooky with her pale skin and piercing blue eyes. "Can I help you?" I asked, stepping closer.

Her eyes got bigger when she saw me. "S…Skye Tate?" she asked. She looked terrified. _Why was she scared of my mom?_

"No…I'm Lauren Shannon."

"Shannon?" she asked, her head tilting curiously. "But you look so much like…"

"Skye Tate's my mother," I informed her.

"I'm looking for Josh Shannon," she said, looking about warily.

"He's my dad. And he…" I jerked my thumb at my brother, "is my brother Austin. Is there something you wanted from my dad?" I tried not to sound too impatient but there was a closet that still needed searching through.

"I was…just wondering…if he was home?"

I shook my head. "He's at work right now. Can I take a message?"

"Never mind, it was a bad idea coming here anyway. Do you, maybe, know where I could find Mark Reynolds?"

_Uncle Mark? What did she want with Uncle Mark? _They say that Shannon women have a good ability to read people, and whoever this lady was, she was sending off some seriously creepy vibes. "Sorry. Can't help you there." I shrugged. Even if I did know where Uncle Mark was, I wouldn't tell her.

"What about Maddy Shannon?" she asked.

_Aunt Maddy? _"Why are you looking for these people?" I frowned and she looked a little intimidated.

"Oh, nothing. Just searching for old friends. I should probably get going though. Thank you for your help, Laura."

"Lauren." I corrected, growing tired of this mysterious lady who had found her way into our foyer. The pale woman nodded and then left. "What was that about?" I turned to Austin, who just shrugged. I made a mental note to tell my mom about the creepy lady looking for dad later. She was obviously afraid of her. But for now, there was a closet that still needed to be dug through.

**A/N: Katrina's baaaaaack! And she's searching for her old obsession! And getting seriously creepy with poor Matt. Like, almost as creepy as Lucas was to Skye! (That'll eventually come into play too). So I wonder what'll happen now that she knows Mark and Maddy have at least two kids. And what's her deal with Matt? He's gonna be scarred for life! Anyway, if my loyal readers want more, then I'm gonna need a review or two. So drop one, please. I know the circle's small but I'm keeping this story alive for you guys alone! Show me that you still want more! **

**PS: Just clearing this up regarding why Adelaide is a doctor at so young—the kids stop schooling at sixteen, right? And then they seem to enter into vocational training. It stands to reason, then, that after four years of rigorous training in the clinic, Adelaide would become a doctor. So yeah, that's why. There's obviously no real med schools on Terra Nova…**

**PPS: My slightly evil little brother just read this latest update and decided Katrina needed an AU death AGAIN…**

_**After Katrina Coleman got all touchy-feely with Matt, Justine Carlisle pulled out a gun and shot her twice in the head. /End of storyline/ (Little Brother thinks this deserves canon status…he also wants to kill Kitty nine times-one for each life)  
><strong>_

**Obviously, this isn't really what happened, but I thought you guys would enjoy hearing about our resident bitch dying once more…sorry to disappoint, but our pale cougar isn't going anywhere for a while…**


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: I'm on an updating _spree _for this story. Don't worry, I know the readership is pretty small so I'm also working hard on updates for my more popular stories too. But I just can't stop because I've got a bazillion and one different bunnies all hopping around my subconscious screaming _write me, write me, write me!_ It's gotten so bad I've started seeing these characters in my dreams. So I'm writing this like crazy for now while other updates also progress. Okay, enough chatter. Drop a review when you're done. Pretty please? With dead Katrina on top? **

**ALSO: LATEST NEWS REGARDING TERRA NOVA'S CONTINUATION: Netflix has decided not to renew Terra Nova. At this rate, it looks like this is it and the series is likely over for good. Good news, though: Jason O'Mara has signed on to a new television project, Allison Miller is in a new pilot called _Go On _on NBC, Landon Liboiron will be starring in a ten-episode Netflix series (oh the irony), and Christine Adams is also slated to be in an ABC pilot coming up soon. Naomi Scott was signed to reprise her role in _Lemonade Mouth 2_, but Disney has since scrapped plans for a sequel to that movie (which makes me doubly sad). Dean Geyer made a bid to play Finnick Odair in the Hunger Games sequel but they haven't announced the actor yet. Anyway, that's where it stands. We still have fanfiction to continue the series though, which is always something. So please review!**

**Skye's POV**

RECAP: Would you believe it's taken me this long to crank out anything with Skye in it? Anyway, Skye—age forty-one. The wife of Josh Shannon and mother of Lauren and Austin. Skye is a doctor in the clinic, Elisabeth's right hand. She's brave and confident, but also unknowingly applies a lot of pressure to Lauren in the hopes she'll become a doctor (or really just pick some sort of internship already). This has put their relationship on ice…

Lauren was dressed up very nicely by the time I got home—a dark green jacket that looked very mature and classy, some jewelry, a pair of boots she borrowed from me (not that I mind very much). "Going somewhere tonight?" I asked, setting the basket of groceries down on the counter and washing my hands for the umpteenth time that day.

Lauren's posture dropped a little. "Mom? Don't you remember? John's taking me out tonight—we're going to that open mic session in the plaza? I told you all of this like two nights ago!"

"Oh my God, you're right! I'm so sorry, honey, it's just that with all the craziness going on at work and your dad working late at the bar and all…I just lost track of what day it was." Wow. Big screw up. This meant a lot to Lauren, I could tell. How the _hell _did I manage to let myself forget that?

"I understand," she said softly, still looking at the ground.

"What time is John picking you up?"

"In a half hour," she brightened a little, which made me glad.

"Do you want something to eat in the meantime?"

"Nah, we'll probably go grab something while we're at the plaza," she shook her head.

"Suit yourself." We both looked to the foyer as the front door opened and Josh stepped in, hanging his coat up on a peg and coming into the kitchen. "Hey, babe," I greeted.

He gave me a peck on the cheek. "How was work?" he asked mildly before opening the refrigerator.

"Crazy," I admitted. "It's like everyone in the whole colony is suddenly getting sick or injured. We're so understaffed it isn't even funny," I spoke the last bit a little louder, hoping Lauren would hear it. She needs to find an internship already, and I think having her at the clinic could be beneficial for everyone. She's a really bright girl and she isn't decided about what she wants to be yet. She won't _ever _figure it out if she doesn't sign up for _something_. I heard her scoff and walk off. She hasn't been very receptive toward the idea of interning at the clinic. I get it—she doesn't want to be working near her mom—but I'm seriously worried she won't ever decide if someone doesn't keep pushing her to make a choice.

"Have you tried asking my sister to help you?" Josh asked, sitting down beside me on one of the barstools.

I laughed. "Are you kidding? Maddy runs screaming in terror at the _sight _of blood. Mark used to have to put bandages on the kids when they were little."

"Fair enough," he hesitated. "What about…?" He nodded toward the living room where Lauren had been standing.

I shook my head. "Lauren doesn't really want to pursue an internship, it seems. It'd be nice…"

"Give her time," his hand covered mine and he gave me a meaningful look. "We were just like her once, too—we _hated _whatever our parents wanted us to do. She'll come around."

**Matt's POV**

RECAP: RECAP: Matthew Washington Reynolds, age sixteen, is Mark and Maddy's middle child and oldest son. He is fiercely loyal and protective of his family and friends. He's the spitting image of his father—same dark hair, blue eyes, tan skin—and he's in-training to become a soldier in Terra Nova. He is best friends with John Kelly. Matt is interested in Justine Carlisle, but is reluctant to ask her out for fear that their friendship would be jeopardized. His friends give him hell because she's older than him.

I was in the locker room, just changing out of my uniform and recovering from my encounter with Katrina Coleman when John stepped out of the shower area, frantically clawing at his hair.

"How do I look?" he asked. I sized him up. He was dressed up nicer than usual.

"Like a dork," I teased.

"Ha ha," he said sarcastically. "No seriously. Do I look okay?"

"Why do you care?" I asked, stuffing my equipment bag in the locker.

"Because! I've got a date tonight. At least, I think I do…"

I stopped and turned around suddenly. "A date? With who?"

He was quiet for a minute. "Your cousin."

"Lauren?"

"Well, it's not really a date," John said hastily. "I mean, I'd like it to be but…I was afraid I'd scare her off if I said it was a date so it's more like we're hanging out. Alone. Together."

I nodded slowly. "Okay…why don't you just ask her out?" I wasn't going to tell him (mostly because Lauren asked me not to) but she has a huge crush on him.

"Because…she's really laid back with me. I don't want it to get really awkward if she just wants to be friends…"

"Alright, but I'm telling you, dude, just go for it," I advised, hoping he'd take the not-so-subtle hint that Lauren wanted to be more-than-friends too.

"I guess…so how'd it go with Justine?" he asked, cleverly switching the topic.

"Yeah. Great," I quickly slammed my locker shut and grabbed my duffel bag. "It was fun." I headed for the door before he could say anything else. No way in hell was I prepared to endure any of _his _ribbing about Justine being a year older and blah, blah, blah. Besides, I wanted to find out more about the creepy pale lady who felt me up earlier…

"Mom?" My mother looked up from the pot she was stirring. I was planning to ask Dad about Katrina but he wasn't home at the moment, so I supposed Mom would have to do.

"Yes, Matt?" she asked.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure! Anything you want, honey." She waited expectantly.

"I had a run-in with someone who said they were friends with you and Dad?"

"Who was it?" Mom asked curiously.

I paused. Maybe I shouldn't bring it up…"Said her name was Katrina Coleman." I said it quickly and then watched for any sign of Mom's reaction.

"What did you say her name was?" she asked, setting the spatula down suddenly and coming closer.

I hesitated once more. "Katrina Coleman," I repeated slowly.

"Matt, where did you see her now?" Mom looked a little upset at hearing the name.

"She walked up to me in the marketplace today. She mistook me for Dad…"

"And what did she do?"

"She asked about him…" I was _not _about to tell her about all the creepy touching.

"Matt, if she asks you about Dad again tell her she needs to leave us alone, understand?"

Well, I wasn't expecting that reaction. "Mom, how does she know you? Justine said she just got bounced from the brig a few days ago. We were going to do a bit more research but we didn't have time…"

"Let's just say it wasn't a great experience and leave it at that…" Mom turned back to her cooking but glanced at her arm every so often. There was a faint scar there—I remember seeing it many times as a little kid when Mom would hug me or read to me. It was faded, but if you looked close enough when she wore short sleeves you could still see it.

"How'd you get the scar?" I asked her. Somehow, I knew it had to be linked to Katrina Coleman.

Mom sighed. "Katrina Coleman gave it to me." She looked at me with a wan smile. My head was reeling.

**Paul's POV**

RECAP: Paul is the youngest of the Reynolds kids, age fourteen. He looks a lot like his dad but he has his mom's personality. Insanely smart but timid, Paul's gone through some bullying in the first chapter. Matt made him promise to tell their dad about it, but Paul is reluctant because he's afraid his dad will be disappointed in him.

"Dad, I have to tell you something," I said quietly, looking down at the ground. _What was I doing? Why was I just walking up to him and telling him? _

"What is it, Paul?" he asked, setting down the Plex and looking up at me curiously.

"It's…I'm having some trouble at school…" _This was easy. Why was it so easy? _

"What do you mean?" he asked, suddenly perking up a bit more. "I just spoke with your teachers a few days ago, they said your grades are the highest in the class."

"No. With a kid. With Kyle Dugan." _What was going on?_

"Is that how your Plex broke?" Dad asked. I nodded. His facial features hardened like they did when he was speaking to someone he disliked. "What did you do about it? Huh? What did you do?" He raised his voice.

"N…nothing…" _I knew this was too easy!_

"Paul I am so, so disappointed in you…"

I sat up and looked around. My room. Curtains drawn. Early morning. The light was just starting to filter in past the curtains and I rubbed my eyes. It may have been just a nightmare, but one this was sure: I could _not _tell Dad what was wrong. The door opened and I rolled over, expecting to see Matt or Adelaide, but it was Mom standing in the doorway instead.

"Everything okay, Paul?" she asked, lingering in the doorway.

"Yeah…"

"I heard noise. It sounded like you were crying," she came fully into the room now, dressed in her robe. Her hair was all tangled up like she had just gotten out of bed.

"I'm fine," I said quietly. Mom sat down on the bed, her hand running across the top of my head.

"Are you sure?" she asked, and I just knew she had already put two and two together. Between the broken Plex, the frequent scrapes and bruises, and my sullen mood, she had to have figured it out. She's a scientist, after all.

I wanted to say something. I really did. Mom is always easy to talk to. But what did she know about bullying? "I'm sure."

She sighed. "I used to have trouble with kids at school too," she said, a distant look on her face. My heart skipped a beat. "They used to torment me. Call me names, shove me around. And they'd always, _always _cheat off my paper during tests. And you know the worst part?" I shook my head, certain my eyes were bugging out of their sockets. My _mother _had been bullied? "They wouldn't even acknowledge me half the time. Most of them didn't even know my name but they judged me because I got good grades and I tried hard in school."

I swallowed, feeling tears stinging at my eyes. "How did you know?" I asked meekly.

Mom smiled the same sad smile she got whenever any of us had issues. "Honey, it doesn't take a rocket scientist. There's no way your Plex could have just broken like that. But I always figured that you'd come to us if you wanted to talk."

"What changed your mind?" I asked.

"Adelaide and Matt told me that Kyle was actually physically injuring you."

So they were the ones who did it!

Mom must have read my mind because she went on. "Honey, don't start getting mad at your brother and sister. They did the right thing. They were worried about you and Matt told me you were afraid to talk to Dad."

I nodded, no longer trying to keep the tears from falling. Mom hugged me, drawing me tight to her like she did when I was a little kid.

"Paul, you know that Dad would never be disappointed in you for not fighting back. He'd be proud that you stuck by your morals. I never fought back. We can't do it all on our own, honey."

I took in a watery sigh. "Did you already tell Dad?"

Mom shook her head. "Uh-uh. That's for you to do, not me, not Matt, not Adelaide. You have to decide when you're ready to talk to your father."

I breathed a sigh of relief. At least I could wait until I was ready.

"But please, Paul—do it sooner rather than later, okay? It isn't easy to say. I had to say it to my own parents, too. But you'll feel better." She smiled sadly again and I knew she wouldn't tell Dad anything until after I did.

"I don't want to go to school today," I confessed. After my run-in with Kyle the other day, I was sure he would be looking for revenge the first chance he got.

Mom nodded in understanding. "I suppose you could come to the lab with me. I'm sure Dr. Wallace would be happy to have the extra help, and he could write you an excuse note. But you have to promise me something, okay?" I nodded. "Promise that you'll tell your Dad soon and that you won't keep running from your problems."

I had to think. _You can't keep running from your problems_. Dad was fond of saying that. He said it when Adelaide griped about work or when Matt tried to put off a particular training exercise. He even said it about himself sometimes, or to Mom. Running seemed to work well for me, though. Kyle isn't that fast and the longer I can avoid him, the longer I don't have to actually face him in a confrontation, which terrifies me. Mom was waiting expectantly for me to answer. I nodded again.

"There's a self-defense seminar going on this weekend," she added as she got up to leave. "Maybe you should go check it out." She shrugged. "Might help."

_Why not? I'd already been roped into telling Dad sooner rather than later._

**A/N: It's been a while since my last update, but I hope that this was worth the wait. I was considering cancelling this series but, once again, a lot of support came in and convinced me to keep it going so I'm really hoping for a few more reviews this time around. I know the readership of this particular story is limited so I'm trying to keep that in mind but there are other, better received stories that I could be working on as well, so if you want more then please leave a review. Thanks. **


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: A day overdue, but hey, it's posted! I've resolved to continue with this story for my relatively small but loyal fanbase. Just so you know, a lot of authors have stopped writing for Terra Nova but I will NOT be one of them. I have resolved to continue to write for this fandom for as long as readership exists. There's almost no hope left for the series to continue, be it in a television show or in a film, so writing is our only hope. Anyone who has/wants to write for Terra Nova: DO IT! I know it's hard to post a story (especially if it's your first), believe me I was TERRIFIED, but it's well worth it and the people in this fandom are genuinely kind and helpful. I'm currently taking beta requests. I'll gladly critique and help you with your work. And please critique mine. As in review. Once you're done reading, of course. Thank you! And please stay tuned because I have an important little bit to inundate you with at the end. **

**ALSO: Do you guys think I should keep the recaps going for our central characters (Adelaide, Matt, Paul, Lauren, and Justine)? I'll include them for the ones we haven't seen much of yet, but let me know if you think they're still necessary for the others and for the characters that are from the original series. Thanks!**

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><p><strong>Lauren's POV<strong>

RECAP: Lauren is the eldest child of Josh and Skye Shannon. She's sixteen with the same hair and eyes as her mother. She is usually pretty private and serious, but she's got a major crush on Private John Kelly. With the soldiers, she's 'one-of-the-boys.' Lauren is musically gifted and has one younger brother—Austin.

Last night? Yeah, TOTAL disaster. Not because of John—he was being the perfect gentleman but I kept screwing EVERYTHING up. Miserable, plain and simple. It was painful just to dwell on it.

The night started out mostly alright. He was being nice, joking around—very relaxed. He had his arm around my shoulder, though, and that was enough to take me from being chill to being a chattering bundle of nerves. Guess I get that from my Shannon-side. I was babbling, stuttering, and basically unable to form a coherent sentence. In short, a quivering pile of mush with a handsome guy's arm around it.

John obviously found it amusing. He kept smiling and rubbing my arm and telling me to relax and stuff. But I just _couldn't_. And it was all he could do not to laugh, hopefully because he thought it was adorably awkward and not hilariously idiotic.

On a normal day, we would've talked about just about anything and it would have been laid back. We would have been friends—technically we still were. Neither of us had ever defined what tonight was, so it was just sort of this awkward uncertainty. It was charged, but uncertain nonetheless. I should've said something…

Dinner was an even bigger disaster. There were live, open mic performances going all night. Some were great (who knew Justine Carlisle could sing so well?) and others were a disaster (such as Dr. Wallace attempting a soprano while more than just a bit drunk). I hardly touched my food in fear of looking like a slob while eating it. Plus I was so nervous I was fairly certain I would just unload whatever I ate less than a minute later. John kept trying to convince me to go up and perform. He complimented me and he spoke all soft and sweet and I caved.

I was nervous onstage. I'm _never _nervous onstage. Dad insists that I was _born _onstage. Even Mom, who's so dead set against me being involved with a musical career (how would you support yourself, Lauren? You need a real job…) has to admit that I'm pretty confident onstage. But tonight…I was rattled. John was there and I was already nervous and the butterflies only increased when I felt the warm stage lights, normally such a comforting feeling, turning on me. I was off-key the entire time. Everyone still clapped and I even got compliments for my 'original rendition of a favorite classic' but I knew in my heart that the performance sucked. John was enthusiastic when I got back. I excused myself to throw up in some bushes and disguised it by chewing on about eight sticks of gum afterwards.

By the time John walked me home, I must had successfully stammered, wailed, quivered, and vomited my way through an entire, disastrous evening, confident in the fact that he wouldn't ever want to come near me again.

"I had a great time, Lauren. Did you?" he asked me on my porch, a hand clasped around each of my arms. I could barely bring myself to meet his eyes.

"Yeah," I replied, though really I just wanted to apologize for messing it all up and then go inside and melt into my bed.

"Good," his smile was bright despite _everything _I had just done. "We should do it again sometime…"

My heart jumped but my stomach sank further. How many more times of this before he decided I wasn't worth the trouble? I could barely _talk _to him when we were alone in the context of tonight! "Yeah," I said again.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," and this time I met his eyes and he smiled and he said goodnight to me. I managed to stammer my way through a good night and get into the house without tripping and breaking something. I was so relieved when I got inside, where I couldn't make a fool of myself in front of him.

Mom was up and in the kitchen, across from Dad, who had his glasses on, which meant he had been reading something, probably more stuff for the bar. He's turned it into a full-service restaurant and he spends most of his nights sitting at the table and frowning at numbers until he eventually falls asleep or Mom drags him to bed first.

I don't know if I interrupted a conversation or not, but Mom looked cheerily to me when I entered.

"How'd it go?" she asked, waiting for every detail.

"I don't want to talk about it," I groaned and didn't wait for her reply. I just went straight to my room and slid the door shut with a dramatic thud that didn't resonate quite the way a door slam might have. And then I did what I'd been wanting to do all night—I melted into my bed and pretended that I had been cool and collected, not a chattering mess of nerves. But even in my dreams, all I could see was my own idiocy. _Just great_.

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><p><strong>John's POV<strong>

RECAP: Private John Kelly, age sixteen. He's a recent enlistee who passed the training courses in record time and found himself assigned to serve under Mark Reynolds. He has blue eyes and dark hair, lean and well-built. He's good friends with the members of his unit, and with Matt Reynolds. Unbeknownst to him, Lauren has a big crush on him. He's got a crush on her, too, though!

Last night was a mess. Not because of Lauren, but because of me. I've done tons of crazy things in my life without batting an eye. So why is it that I can never seem to say or do the right thing whenever I'm in the presence of the one and only Lauren Shannon? Could anyone else ever make me feel so inadequate and intrigued at the same time?

The usual air between us was friendly, cool. She isn't an obsessive, vain chick that can only think of herself, nor is she a notorious flirt. She's laidback and I like that about her. But I was incredibly nervous when I came to pick her up last night. I hadn't actually asked her out formally and I didn't know what she thought of tonight as. I was scared as all hell and I guess that nervousness was obvious to her because she was nervous too. And it's all my fault.

I put my arm around her for almost the whole night. She kept blushing, which made her even more beautiful, but I couldn't help but feel like I was throwing her off. She was stammering through every sentence.

Aside from Dr. Wallace's very, _very _poor rendition of the _entire _score from Les Miserables, every one who performed that night did a great job. But I really wanted to hear Lauren sing—she's so talented. So I kept pushing for her to do it and she did so reluctantly. Her version of a well-known hit was amazing—it sounded so similar to the original and yet so different, as if she had written it herself and was performing it. I loved it. She excused herself after and came back chewing gum. I didn't know if it was something I said but she seemed upset.

I took that as a cue to take her home, where I boldly asked if she'd like to do that again sometime. She didn't seem too convinced, which made me wince and hope I hadn't scared her too badly. But she did agree and I had to resist the urge to freak her out even more by kissing her hand, though I wanted to badly. She said good night and went inside and I was left kicking myself over what happened. All I know is, if she never wants to see me again, I don't blame her, because I screwed it up majorly…

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><p><strong>Zoe's POV<strong>

RECAP: Zoe, the youngest of the original Shannon kids! She's thirty years old now, very similar looking to her mother and sister, and she's working in the infirmary as Skye's (her sister in law) right hand. Despite being intelligent and compassionate, she has yet to find anyone special in her life…for now…

Want to know a secret? I didn't actually mind being on my own. I was free. I could do what I want without having to tell my significant other. There wasn't anyone hogging the bed or the comforter at night and no one would complain when I came home late from work on some nights.

But then Maddy had to come into the infirmary the other day and tell me that Dr. Martin Cossack had expressed interest in me and well…let's just say that I've been spending a good amount of free time staring at him. And the more I see him, the more attractive he becomes to me. He's not too tall, not too short, his hair is this nice shade of reddish-brown…

I haven't worked up the nerve to actually say something to him though. Aesthetically, he's very pleasing to the eyes, but I know next-to-nothing about him personality wise. He seemed like a nice guy while we were working in tandem to extract medicinal properties from herbs—intelligent and courteous—but who knows what he's like outside of the workplace. And if he's _only _aesthetically pleasing then I'm cashing out. I can't take another 'pretty boy' who doesn't actually have respect for me.

I woke up this morning feeling a bit chilly—the air was a bit cooler than usual on account of the rain that had fallen overnight—so I put on a robe and went downstairs, barefoot with my hair all tangled up in a mess. In short, totally not presentable. But what did I care? No one's going to watch me as I go outside to water my plants and bring in the weekly newsletter.

That mentality changed the second I opened the door to find a bouquet of flowers lying there on the porch, all wrapped up with a beautiful ribbon. I stopped and glanced around quickly, silently praying that no one would see me in such a horrendous state. Especially not whoever had been thoughtful enough to send flowers. I quickly scooped the colorful plants up and stepped back inside before I scared any neighbors.

There was a card attached, but it simply read:

_To The Beautiful Ms. Zoe Shannon, who I've hardly had the pleasure of speaking to._

_Sincerely,_

_An admirer (who wishes to get to know you better)_

I found myself grinning like an idiot in the middle of the kitchen, clutching the pretty arrangement. They weren't the typical red roses. These plants reflected care, thought, _effort_. Someone had taken the time to pick these specifically for their traits. They were bright, cheery, and they had a subtle but pleasant aroma, neatly grouped by color. And they were all fairly recent additions to the catalogue of species—some of them had medicinal properties. I reached the conclusion that it had to be someone in the science division. And I had a sneaking suspicion that I knew who it was…

* * *

><p><strong>Paul's POV<strong>

RECAP: Paul is the youngest of the Reynolds kids, age fourteen. He looks a lot like his dad but he has his mom's personality. Insanely smart but timid, Paul's gone through some bullying in the first chapter. Matt made him promise to tell their dad about it, but Paul is reluctant because he's afraid his dad will be disappointed in him. From here on out, we may start to see a darker aspect come into play with Paul's character. Just a warning…

I didn't have to go to school today—Mom phoned in at the labs and asked if it would be alright for me to tag along. I guess she's told Dr. Wallace about me because he seemed enthusiastic to have me there.

"There's not enough young people with an interest in scientific pursuits," he told me, wrinkling his nose. "They all want to join the security forces or take an easy job in agriculture…"

I nodded slowly. It was true—I couldn't think of a single person with an interest in science.

"You're not the only one you age though," he continued absently, pushing his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose as he refocused his microscope.

"Who else?" I asked. Could there really be someone else my age who wanted to work in the labs?

Dr. Wallace glanced up. "Nikita Singh?"

I looked at him blankly.

"You don't know her?" he sounded surprised. "She's a few grade levels ahead of you academically—she tested out of school—and she's been working as an intern in the labs for a while now. I'm surprised your mother hasn't told you about her…as a matter of fact, here she comes now. Nikita!" he hailed her and she hurried over.

I sized her up. She looked to be about my age, though tall and thin. She had dark eyes, almost black, and her hair was long and straight. Her skin was a bit dark, too.

"This is Maddy Reynolds' son," Dr. Wallace introduced us.

"Nice to meet you," she smiled, offering her hand to shake. Her voice was high-pitched with a slightly raspy quality to it. "You can call me Nikki—everyone does."

"Paul," I said. I wasn't exactly sure if she was genuinely friendly or just being polite, but it was nice to know that at least one other person shared my interests.

"Nikita, why don't you show young Mr. Reynolds around the labs?" Dr. Wallace suggested. "He's here for the day—perhaps he'd like to lend a hand?"

"Yeah," I agreed. Nikki looked surprised. "I mean…if you want me to…"

"That'd be nice," she finally said. "I could use some help on some of my projects."

We spent a good portion of the day cataloguing mineral samples. It was a tedious task, to say the least, but Nikki made good company. It was great to have a conversation with someone who knew what I was saying and wasn't bored to tears by it. In fact, she seemed genuinely enthusiastic when I started quoting Kenneth Horton's _Atlas of a Long-Forgotten World_. She quoted other parts back to me. Between the two of us, we may even have that book committed entirely to memory.

We broke for lunch about midday, at which point Mom came to get me so we could go home and meet Adelaide.

"I see you met Nikita Singh," she said as we walked. I nodded. "She's very motivated and she loves science—I can see why you two get along."

"It's just nice to talk to someone who likes the same topic," I said. And it was. Part of the reason I had no friends in school was because they thought I was lame and boring. Nikki not only listened to what I had to say, but also added her own insight to things. It was a real, intelligent conversation and it wasn't in the context of an academic setting. It felt like we were…well, like we were friends.

Lunch was a little awkward. I was still upset with Adelaide for going behind my back and telling Mom even after she promised she wouldn't. I mean, I get why she did it, but it was still a violation of her promise. She seemed to pick up on this because she kept shooting me apologetic looks from across the table. I largely ignored her, which she obviously found annoying because she would keep rolling her eyes and scoffing. I'm fairly certain Mom knew what was going on, too, but she didn't say anything.

After lunch, I went back to the labs and helped Nikki categorize insect samples. We were able to classify three new beetle species. Eventually, though, I had to go home. I still had homework assignments to finish. Adelaide picked them up from school for me. I bid Nikki farewell.

"Come back soon," she said. "I had a lot of fun working with you."

I nodded. "I'll try." I was once again feeling very pleased to have someone who might be considered a friend. Mom offered to walk home with me but I declined. She still had work to do and I didn't want to interfere or delay her any. And I figured that I'd be fine on my own. The walk wasn't too far.

"Reynolds!" a voice sneered from behind me and I was painfully reminded that while I may be on friendly terms with one person, there was still a good portion of my peers that loved to torment me. I could see the angry blue-eyed glare beneath a mop of blond hair before I even turned around.

And there he was. The one person I was really hoping to avoid. Kyle Dugan, of course.

"Where were you today?" he asked, stepping closer. "Hiding out in the labs with your mommy?" He shoved me now and I could feel myself falling backwards. "Your soldier friends might have been there to save you the other day, but don't think for a second that I'll let you get away with it." A painful kick to the ribs. "Where're your little saviors now, Reynolds?" Another kick, this one bruise-worthy. He stopped and laughed before walking away, followed by his loyal crowd of monkeys.

Slowly, painfully, I sat up, groaning. I'd be sore for days, I knew that much. I quickly looked around. If anyone had seen me get beat up like that, I knew Kyle would deal out a lot more agony tomorrow. I breathed a sigh of relief when I could see no one. But then, a voice out of the blue spoke and nearly scared me to death.

"Bullies aren't fun, are they?"

I wheeled around and found myself face to face with a woman, probably in her forties. She was very pale and thin as a reed, but her eyes were blue and almost hypnotic—like a snake's. I shook my head slowly, fear seizing me.

"I know a way you can earn their respect," she practically whispered.

"H…how?"

"Well, Mr. Reynolds…"

"How do you know my…" I realized she must have heard Kyle shouting at me too.

She seemed to ignore the question. "…the only way to win a bully's respect is to make them _afraid _of you…"

I frowned. "I…I don't think…"

She shushed me. "Now, now dear. I've got a lot more experience than you. When they fear you, they'll respect you. Would you like to feel that kind of power? That kind of power that makes the bullies think twice before they start picking on you?"

I was slow to respond. Something in me—everything in me—knew that this was completely wrong. It wasn't in line with anything I'd ever been taught before. I was always told to use words and reasoning and, if that failed, to seek help. But yet, something this woman was saying was making…sense. I feared Kyle, and he had power over me. Everyone else around him and in his crowd feared him, and he had power over them too. I nodded, because I _would _like to feel that power, even if I knew I could never actually go through with asserting it.

"I have a way for you to do that, too," she said. "I'll be in touch with you later, Mr. Reynolds…"

"Paul," I cleared my throat. "My…my name's Paul." I wasn't sure what this 'way' was or if she was even serious. In fact, she was a little creepy. But I was curious. Even if I learned how to assert the power of fear, didn't mean I actually would. But it could be a useful skill for when push comes to shove.

She smiled. "Paul Reynolds. You can call me Katrina. Katrina Coleman."

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><p><strong>AN: Fair warning: things may start to turn dark from here on out. Slowly, all of these different story arcs are going to start converging into one. And not everyone can be trusted. So drop a review and let me know what you think of a potentially new direction to take this. **

**PLEASE READ THIS: There's an awesome author and reader out there, ramfan, who has written an OC story in the realm of Terra Nova. But while mine takes place in the future, ramfan's takes place _before _the series, around the time of the eighth pilgrimage. Haven't you always wondered what went on before the Shannon arrived? Now's your chance to find out. The story is titled 'One Step at a Time' and I ask you all to check that one out ASAP. Thanks. **


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: Sorry for the long delay folks. I was (ahem) grounded so uh…yeah I couldn't really upload anything. I'm super embarrassed about that but, hey, sh*t happens I guess. I wrote this stuff up though and I'm glad to be able to post it now. I have finals coming so I'll likely be dormant until my summer vacation starts. A few more updates to go and then I'll be gone for a bit. Fear not, once my holiday starts I'll return faithfully. Just a quick update on the actors of Terra Nova: Allison Miller is now starring in a newly picked-up NBC series titled _Go On._ Jason O'Mara's new series _Vegas _was just picked up by CBS. Landon Liboiron will be starring in _Hemlock Grove _on Netflix, Christine Adams will appear on newly picked-up ABC series _Americana_, and Naomi Scott just collaborated with British indie-rock band Oscar and the Dolly to release a new demo titled "Bed of Poppies." It's an amazing song so do look that up too. Okay, so that's the 'where are they now' segment and now on to the story, which will be getting a shade darker as we go on. Fair warning. Please review!**

**NOTE: Core characters don't get recaps anymore, just so you know. I feel that they've been established enough but if you think they're still necessary then let me know and I'll bring them back. **

**Adelaide's POV**

I was still a little sore from the night before with Sean today, especially right where it counts. I was stiff all morning and I'm sure that my mom or Aunt Skye noticed, though no one said anything. It's not exactly a secret at this point—I've spent the night with Sean in the past—but I think everyone still has me pegged for the goody-goody teenager I was not too long ago.

Anyway, Sean came over in the afternoon after work and we talked for a while. My psychological evaluation of Katrina Coleman is tomorrow and I'm really quite scared. After I found out what she did to my mother I've been trying to avoid her.

"I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow," I confessed exasperatedly. Sean eyed me sympathetically from across the dining table.

"It's just a psychological evaluation, Adelaide. You've done it tons of times before."

"Yeah but…not on someone like this. I mean Katrina Coleman has connections to _my _family. She tried to hurt my mother! How can I just sit there and ask her a bunch of questions knowing she actually held a gun to my mom's head?"

Mom had told me exactly what went down between her and Katrina Coleman all those years ago and it wasn't the most comforting thing in the world. Especially not after Katrina's comment that I looked like my mother. It really made me mad that someone had come so close to destroying my family. Sure the Dugans are always a bunch of pests but we've been a generally well-liked family. It was a foreign, surreal feeling and I did _not _like it one bit.

"I don't know," Sean told me earnestly. "I know it's probably really weird for you but…if you just stick with the facts and the questions I don't really see how it'll matter. And when it's all done you can just walk away and forget it all."

"But she'll be free," I insisted. "And if she's free then who knows? What if she comes back and actually succeeds in hurting my mom? It'll be _my _fault."

He offered me a gentle smile, covering my hand with his. "You worry too much. It'll be fine. I'll go with you if it'll help."

"You will?" I asked.

"If you want me to come then I will. I don't think your dad would mind if I told him you wanted extra security during the evaluation."

"No," I concurred. "He's really wary when any of us come into contact with Katrina Coleman as it is."

"I'll go put in the request," he got up to leave.

"You're the best."

He winked. "I know."

Shortly after Sean left, Paul returned home. He looked paler than normal and he was _definitely _in a sour mood. I understand the sour mood part. I sort of ratted him out to Mom after promising not to, but after he was physically attacked by Kyle Dugan I decided something had to be done. Matt reluctantly agreed, so we told Mom and she agreed to convince him to tell Dad. He hasn't done it yet but we'll give him a few more days at least.

"You okay, Paul?"

"Fine," he replied coldly.

"Anything you want to talk about?"

"No…" he looked like he was going to say more but stopped himself and just went to his room instead.

**Matt's POV**

It was my final week on patrol with Justine. In another few days, I'd be graduating and becoming a full-fledged member of the security forces. Commander Taylor already told me there was a good chance I'd be assigned to Sergeant Leah Marcos and the southeast perimeter patrol. I was very pleased. Sergeant Marcos is one of the most well-respected soldiers in the forces and a perimeter patrol was rare for a fresh recruit.

Justine and I were making our way through the orchards, scanning for any trouble. It was pointless, really. Terra Nova hasn't been in trouble in a long time. The last time there was a real conflict was when I was six and the Commander's son had shown up with a group of people armed to the teeth with guns and bows and arrows, demanding supplies. They had pretty much been turned away without incident. Since then, no one's really been able to keep track of them and they haven't shown their faces again since. Justine and I liked to use the orchard patrol as an opportunity to chat while keeping a casual eye out for any disturbances.

"So when are we going to talk?" she asked, her voice a bit forceful.

"About what?" I replied, slowly scanning the tree line with my eyes.

"About us," she answered.

"What about us?"

"Matt, there's been this tension between us since we first started these patrols. People are starting to talk and you'll be a full-fledged soldier in a few days' time…"

"What do you mean?" I asked, heart rate quickening.

"Well…I think we need to…to define what we are to…to each other," she finally managed, shyly meeting my eyes.

I frowned a bit. "As in…our relationship…?"

"I really like you, Matt," she finally blurted. It was the best thing I'd heard in a long time.

"I really like you too," I replied. She blushed. We walked on in silence for a little while, unsure of exactly what to say. "So…" I drew out the word. "What now?"

"I don't know," she replied.

"Do you have plans this Saturday?"

"No, not really," she shook her head.

I thought back to what Dad said and swept her hand up in mine. Her tan skin reddened even more. "Well then, Miss Carlisle, would you like to join me for a night out?"

She laughed. "Miss Carlisle?"

"Miss Carlisle," I confirmed.

"I'd love to join you, Matt," she returned to the subject.

I heard a whistle from behind me and turned to see John standing there, looking rather amused. "Yeah, buddy!"

Justine smirked somewhat embarrassedly. I rolled my eyes. "Shut up!"

**Zoe's POV**

I'M NOT PUTTING A RECAP HERE BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW WHO ZOE IS…

"Z!" I looked up with tired eyes, having been staring at medicinal recipe cards all morning. I swear I could have closed my eyes and still seen them. My sister was approaching me quickly.

"What's wrong?" I asked suspiciously. Last time she had been in here interrupting my work day she'd planted the idea of Dr. Martin Cossack in my head. Now I couldn't stop thinking about him and whoever had sent me those flowers.

"I decided to throw a little get-together tonight," Maddy informed me. "You know, for the family?"

"Okay…" I nodded my head slowly, warily. Maddy wasn't the type to throw anything together. She had to have everything carefully planned out beforehand.

"You can bring a guest…" she winked.

_There's the catch. _"Maddy…"

"No, just here me out Zo!" she pled. "I think you should ask Dr. Cossack to go with you. He seems very taken with you and he said he sent you flowers the other day…"

"He did," I blushed.

"Oooh! Romantic!" Maddy was sounding more and more like a teenage girl. "Give him a try, you'll see! Bring him by."

"I'll…I'll think about it," I waved her off. "But I'm trying to work here…"

"Right. My lunch break's almost over anyway. See you tonight?"

"I guess."

"Eight PM sharp. And _don't _forget to bring him," she left after giving me that final command. Funny how my sister seems more intent on running my love life than I am. I turned back to the mixture I'd been preparing and gasped as a puff of smoke tinted my entire face gray. _I have got to stop doing that_…

**Adelaide's POV (again)**

Mom somehow got it into her head to throw a get-together tonight after Matt came home on a lovesick babble about how he and Justine had talked and now they were going to give 'being an item' a try. I scoffed and rolled my eyes and ribbed him, but to be honest I think they're the best-matched couple I've seen since…well since Mom and Dad really. Anyway, long story short, everyone (and I do mean _everyone_) in the Shannon clan is coming over tonight and somehow I got stuck making gazpacho. Not the worst of fates considering Matt had to pluck the meat from the enormous oysters and Dad got stuck with pea-shelling duty, which I outgrew by the time I was six. Mom just doesn't trust Dad very much with a stove. I seem to have inherited his cooking talents but when it comes to stuff that doesn't need to be heated over a flame or shoved in an oven I seem to turn out fine. Hence the gazpacho.

Uncle Josh brought beer, which I was forbidden to touch on pain of death. What would Mom do if she found out I'd been having the occasional drink since I was sixteen? Lauren decided she'd have mercy and help me out in the kitchen. She's got the good-cook genes in her.

"So I heard you had a date with John Kelly a few nights ago," I said, prying for details. It had been a while since I'd caught up with my only girl cousin. There's just some things I'll never be able to tell anyone except a girl.

"Yep," Lauren replied, not glancing up from slicing tomatoes to blend.

"How'd it go?" I set down the blender.

"Could've been better," she told me mysteriously.

"Spill it, girl."

She paused, took a deep breath in. "Okay, fine. It was a total train wreck and I ruined everything." She looked ready to cry.

"It couldn't have been _that _bad," I tried to soothe. "Everyone always thinks their first date was a disaster. Take me and Sean for example—I laughed so hard that my drink came out my nose at one point…"

Lauren smirked. "How'd that go over?"

"He thought it was adorable."

"I don't know," she hesitated. "He said he had a good time and that he'd like to see me again but…"

"That's great!" I interjected.

"I feel like everyone's expecting us to hook up and that'll be the end of it. They all think I'm just going to give it up to him and then we'll be over," Lauren sighed, setting down the knife on the cutting board.

"Don't put yourself in that situation and you'll be fine," I advised. Not that I'd taken my own advice. Sean and I are still together, thank God, but I know for sure that I gave it up way to easily the first time. I was barely seventeen, he a mere eighteen. It doesn't really matter anymore—it's far from the first time at this point—but I always feel like I should have waited a bit longer.

Lauren shrugged. "Is that how it was with you and Sean?" she asked.

I paused, frowning. "What would you know about me and Sean?"

"Just…bits and pieces," she confessed. "People talk about you spending the night with him and I just figured…"

I sighed. "It was a couple years ago," I admitted. It felt weird discussing my intimate life with my cousin but I figured she needed a role model. "I should've waited a while longer."

We started talking about other stuff after that: a new song she's been writing, a cute outfit I spotted at the markets the other day, the Harvest Festival in a week…

Aunt Zoe finally showed up around eight thirty with a guest in tow. I recognized Dr. Martin Cossack immediately because Mom's invited him to our house for dinner occasionally. He seemed a little self-conscious being present at a clearly intimate family gathering but Mom just smiled and welcomed him and exchanged sideways glances with Grandma while Aunt Zoe rolled her eyes countless times at their antics.

I asked Sean to come, which he did at around nine when his evening patrol ended. With Dad busy shelling peas, he had put Sean in charge that evening, both a gift and a curse. Justine was noticeably absent but I found out later that she was working a second graveyard shift for OT pay. Matt said she's trying to save up for a new outfit for the Harvest Festival. It was probably close to midnight when people finally packed up and went home. Sean stayed afterwards to help clean up. Paul had retreated into his room after a brief conversation with Dr. Cossack. Matt was in bed due to his early morning shift, so it was just me, Mom, Dad, and him.

"So I put in the request to be present during the exam," he told me as he wiped the counter down.

"What exam?" Mom asked, setting whatever leftovers she couldn't pawn off on everyone else in the fridge.

"I have to conduct a psych exam tomorrow," I explained, leaving out exactly _who _I'd be examining. No need to worry her.

"On who?" Dad spoke up nonchalantly, though I'm pretty sure he figured it out. Who else would I need protection from?

"On a patient…" I made eye-contact with Sean who shrugged innocently.

"Which patient?" Mom asked curiously.

"…Katrina Coleman…" Both my parents sort of froze at that information.

"Katrina Coleman?" Dad repeated.

"But don't worry," I added quickly. "Sean will be there with me."

"I requested permission to be present as security during the interview," he elaborated. "You weren't there, sir, so I asked Captain Reilly instead and she cleared it."

Dad nodded. "Just let me know if anything goes wrong," he admonished, a worried expression on his face. There was nothing Dad could do though. He had a shift to oversee.

Mom sent Dad off to bed a bit later, yelling at him about his late nights and early mornings. I told her to go to bed too, promising that Sean and I could manage.

We finished pretty quickly and were chatting for a bit when a weird sensation came over me. It was probably just a culmination of eating so much and being so nervous about the pending psych exam. Excusing myself quickly, I ran to the bathroom. It wasn't a fun experience inside. Sean came in looking pretty concerned shortly after I flushed.

"You alright?" he asked.

"Fine," I lied, rinsing my mouth out with water. I felt gross.

"What happened?"

"Probably nerves," I shrugged. "Hopefully that's all that happens." I still felt queasy but that's often the case after throwing up anyhow.

"No goodnight kiss for you," he teased. I pouted. "Well, I should get going. I'll meet you at the clinic at eleven for the psych exam."

"It's a date," I laughed, and sent him off with a hug. I didn't sleep very well at all, though. I kept feeling sick to my stomach...

**Maddy's POV**

Mark was still awake when I crawled into bed beside him. The night was pretty successful, I think. Zoe and Martin seemed pretty happy, chatting quietly amongst themselves. Martin made polite small talk with Dad and Mom and with me and Josh. I got to catch up with Skye, something I haven't had a chance to do in a while. Paul came out of his room for a bit to talk to Martin as well. He hasn't said anything to Mark yet but I'm going to give it two more days before finally sitting him down and forcing him to open up.

"That was fun," Mark commented as I lay in bed next to him.

"It was," I agreed.

"Adelaide's finishing the cleaning?"

"She wouldn't let me finish up. I think she wants to have some alone time with Sean."

He shrugged. Sean's never given us any reason not to trust him after all. "Matt and Paul are asleep?"

I nodded in the dark. "I checked on them both before coming in."

"You know what that means?"

"What?" His fingers were brushing up my spine and to my neck and I could already see where this conversation was going. My husband, ever the opportunist.

His voice was soft and close to my ear. "We're alone."

And with the sound of Sean leaving the house and Adelaide going off to bed to confirm the fact, we made good use of the time…

**A/N: Naughty ending without being too naughty. As I said, this is slowly becoming less and less kiddie-friendly. I figured that Adelaide has to have _some _dirty secret. Wonder how that psych exam will go? What about Zoe and Martin's relationship? Is Paul _ever _going to come clean on his own? And what's he all sulky about anyway? Why is Adelaide puking? What will become of Matt and Justine? What's the Harvest Festival going to be like? All of this and more will be revealed soon. Keep reading and reviewing! **


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: Glad to see there's still readership! Sorry for the long delay: I was so uninspired but I pushed this out. Guess what? They're going to give us a Terra Nova comic! It'll tie up all the loose ends and it comes out this fall along with the DVD. And Dean Geyer will now play a starring role on Glee! I'm no Gleek but I know **_**some **_**of you would be happy! Anyway, without further ado, the return of **_**The Future of the Past**_**. Please keep reviewing so I know there's still SOMEONE out there who cares!**

* * *

><p><strong>Adelaide's POV<strong>

I wasn't feeling any better by morning. In fact, I felt even worse. But to be honest, I was very, _very _nervous about having to conduct a psych interview on a woman who had attempted to murder my mother. Under ordinary circumstances I likely wouldn't have been assigned to her due to a potentially biased opinion but (a) it wasn't like there was anyone who _didn't _hate Katrina Coleman and (b) I was the only one free and licensed to conduct any sort of psychiatric evaluation that day so there was little in the way of choice. But at the very least Sean promised to be there with me for moral support and possibly physical protection depending on how things went.

I ate breakfast in silence, staring out the window and trying to think calm, soothing thoughts. A new wave of nausea hit me and I was forced to ditch breakfast down the garbage chute before I ended up throwing up over everything. Matt came out of his room, hair sticking up at weird angles because he rolls around a lot in his sleep. He sat down opposite me, observing my haggard appearance.

"You okay?" he asked. Matt's always been able to tell when something's wrong, not that it would take a rocket scientist given how terrible I must have looked.

"Fine," I replied.

"Liar," he countered. "You look like you're about to puke. Are you really that nervous?"

I nodded, wide-eyed. "Hell yes! She tried to kill Mom, what if she tries to kill me too?"

"She won't," Matt shook his head. "She wouldn't dare."

"Why not?"

"Because we're also Mark Reynolds' kids. And she had some sort of creepy obsession with Dad. She has some sort of creepy obsession with _me_." He cringed.

"Matt, what did she do to you?" I was worried now.

"Nothing bad, don't worry. She was just uncomfortably close and she tried to manhandle me. Kept saying how much I looked like Dad."

"Well, to be fair you do," I told him. "What happened after that?"

"I backed away and then Justine saved me."

I snorted. There wasn't anything inherently funny about my brother nearly being groped by a forty year old woman but something about Justine Carlisle having to save him struck me as amusing.

"What's so funny?" his eyes narrowed and he stared me down across the table. I took a sip of herbal tea I'd been nursing all morning to soothe my wildly churning stomach.

"Oh, nothing. Just that your girlfriend had to come to your rescue."

"Not funny, Adelaide. It's not like I'm alone. Sean has to come babysit you while you give an interview."

"I'm a girl," I countered. "What's your excuse?"

Matt faltered, then closed his mouth, capitulating to me. "When is the interview?"

"Nine," I said, glancing at the clock on the wall. I had a half hour to kill and it wasn't helping that the clock was ticking so slowly.

"You sure you'll be okay?"

"I'll be fine, Matt. It's a crowded clinic and I'll have Sean there to protect me. And if Katrina tries anything there's always Dad to contend with. You know he won't let anything happen to me."

Matt chuckled. "I kind of hope she does try something. Just to see Dad take her down."

I grimaced. "That's mean!"

Matt got up from the table, smirking mischievously. "Good luck, sis."

"Thanks," I said half-heartedly, the nerves suddenly returning now that there was no conversation partner to distract me.

"Call me if you need any more help. You know I'll come running," he advised.

I nodded, but I had no intention of calling Matt if I needed help. We look out for each other and I knew full well he'd drop everything to come to my aid, just like I'd do for him or Paul. But his graduation was in a few days' time and he needed all of the training he could get to finish preparing. And I had Sean to protect me…

When I decided I could avoid it no longer, I finally got dressed and headed to work. Mom let me take the rover.

"In case you need to get out of there fast," she said, handing me the keys with a wink. Then, noting my nervous expression, she reassured me. "Relax, Adelaide. You'll be fine. The clinic is secure and Katrina Coleman hasn't really caused us any trouble since her release. I doubt she'll start now. How's your stomach feeling?"

"Better," I fibbed. I'd told her about my vomiting episode the night prior and she agreed it was likely just the nerves getting the best of me. I neglected to inform her I was still feeling nauseated and that Katrina had been getting a bit creepy with Matt.

"Good," she smiled. "Sean's going to be there, right?"

"Right."

"And Aunt Zoe works in the clinic too. I asked her to keep an eye out for you. And if you need him, Dad's just a quick phone call away."

"I know, Mom."

"Good luck," she said, sending me off with a hug. I felt like a soldier on the way to a battle.

Sean was already in the clinic when I arrived. He was sitting in the waiting room, a large sonic rifle resting on the seat beside him. He stood up and hugged me when I entered.

"How're you feeling?"

"Not so hot," I admitted to him. "Still a bit nauseated."

"Deep breaths," he counseled. "You've done this before. You've got this."

I breathed in deep but still felt scared. The clock read eight fifty-nine. "Guess I should just get this over with," I sighed.

Sean's hand rested firmly on my shoulder. "I'll be right here with you."

Steeling myself, I entered the little side room where all the psychiatric evaluations were conducted. It was a room smaller than the one I slept in, with a lounge-type chair placed in the center of it, a rolling office chair for me to sit in behind. I grabbed my Plex, took one more deep breath, and sat down. Sean leant against the wall, arms folded, the rifle leaning beside him. I took comfort in the fact that he would be able to keep me safe.

At exactly nine, Katrina filed in looking cheerful. She had gotten tanner since her release, no longer frightfully pale. And being in the real world had done her some good—she wasn't as gaunt as before. From a physical standpoint she was a model of health. I inquired if she had been taking the vitamins I'd prescribed. She politely answered that she was and then seated herself on the lounge chair.

"Okay, Katrina," I said quietly. She turned around to smile at me. It seemed almost…kind. I was unnerved. "The way this works is, I'm going to ask you a few questions and I just want you to answer them honestly for me, okay?" I went through the standard script for pysch eval patients. She nodded her head. "So first, do you have any questions or concerns for me—anything medical or physical?" She shook her head and I made note of it on the form that was displayed on my Plex screen. "Have you felt sad, depressed, or burnt out?" She shook her head again. "Have you ever had the urge to harm yourself?"

"No," Katrina replied.

_Though you may have had the urge to harm others_, I added in my head. "Have you ever tried to harm yourself and if so, when?"

"Never," Katrina answered calmly.

"Do you have a problem controlling your temper?"

There was a long, hesitant pause. "I suppose you could say that. Sometimes I just get really angry, you know?"

I nodded my head faintly, the nauseous feeling returning. "Do you…do you find that your temper is…more violent when drinking or using medications?"

Katrina laughed. "I'm not a violent drunk, sweetie."

I forced a laugh. "Do you…resent being advised?"

Another pause, this time Katrina appeared a little uncertain for a moment before answering: "No."

The uneasiness was really settling in now, much stronger than before. I briefly looked to Sean, who appeared concerned. "Are you okay?" he whispered as he leant close.

"I'm…not sure," I confessed.

"You look a bit pale," he stated.

"I feel nauseated again…a little faint…I'll be fine."

He nodded but didn't look entirely convinced. Nonetheless, he returned to his position against the wall.

"What's with the armed security forces, hon?" Katrina asked, just noticing Sean's presence. "I'm not that…_dangerous_ am I?" The simple smile looked out of place on her cat-like features.

I was feeling even queasier at this point. "No…it's just that…we're taking…precautions."

"Hon, whatever happened all those years back with your family is behind us now," she smiled at me. And that was it. The dizziness became overwhelming and I felt myself falling, saw Sean rushing to catch me. And then darkness.

* * *

><p><strong>Paul's POV<strong>

I know I probably made a terrible impression at the little get-together last night. But to be fair, if my family had known what I'd been dealing with, they would've understood. Probably. At the very least they would have left me alone. And I _did _mingle with Dr. Cossack a little. We discussed some obscure flora discovered in the southern hemisphere and I actually felt somewhat intelligent and appreciated. But I heard Mom lamenting to Aunt Zoe that I was 'cutting myself off from everyone' once I went into my room. Thankfully, she didn't mention the little Kyle Dugan secret. Mom's trustworthy like that.

I was still quite shaken. Katrina Coleman, some ex-con who was (as far as I know) at least somewhat dangerous, had approached me, promising to take care of my bullying problem. Initially, I thought she was just making a joke or something but it turns out she was serious. And I went along with it, and now I was a bit scared because she had promised to show me another way to gain their respect.

It started out with a few simple things. She told me how to be manipulative, that no one could be trusted. And to be honest, she's kind of correct. Aside from my family I've quickly learned that anyone who says they want to be your friend is lying. Katrina included. I just haven't figured out what her ulterior motive is yet. I will though, which is why I'm even still bothering with her. I just know she's up to something and as long as she thinks I'm her little star pupil, everything will be fine. She's slippery. I was sitting out on my porch thinking over everything when a familiar, dark-haired head stepped into sight. I immediately recognized Nikita Singh smiling at me.

"Hey, Paul!" she greeted cheerfully, her high-pitched, somewhat nasally voice ringing out as she stepped closer. I stood up and hopped down from the porch.

"Hi, Nikki."

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Not much," I shrugged, looking down. Nikki is certainly the closest thing I've got to a friend right now but I'm not a hundred percent sure about her either.

"Would you like to come by the lab?" she suggested. "I mean, it's a weekend and all and you look miserably bored."

"I am," I confessed. And besides, I wasn't going to pass up on an opportunity to spend time with my _only _seemingly-real friend.

"So come on then!" Nikki urged. "Dr. Wallace asked me to categorize insects and it's just no fun without someone to talk to."

I shrugged and followed her. The last time we'd categorized things we had ended up losing track of time. We had discussions about science and history and philosophy and all the things I enjoy but never talk about because people laugh at me.

"You know, I just got this new book on my Plex," Nikki said on the way. "I could show it to you if you'd like. I think you'd enjoy it."

I nodded enthusiastically. "I'd love to take a look."

Dr. Wallace was pleased to see me back.

"I see Miss Singh has convinced you to return," he noted with a proud expression. "Wonderful, then. It's always great to have additional hands in the lab."

I spent the rest of the afternoon talking with Nikki as we fished various dead creepy-crawlies from boxes that were sent to us by scientists in the field. Most of them were monumentally huge, some with colorful wings, others with freakishly pointed teeth. We sorted them first by insect class, then by species. Before I even knew it, it was nearly six o'clock. Time flies when you're having fun…

* * *

><p><strong>Sean's POV<strong>

RECAP: Sean is Adelaide's boyfriend, age twenty-one with sandy hair and brown eyes. He serves in Mark's battalion and is generally well-respected for his good manners and sense of humor. As we've seen, he's very protective of Adelaide and their relationship is sort of a goofy, romantic one. He is more grounded than she is and occasionally has to reign her in or calm her down. We've also learned that the have been physically intimate with one another for some time now and that it hasn't been a very closely guarded secret. Despite this, Adelaide's parents generally approve of him and believe he is beneficial for her.

Words cannot describe the panic I felt when I saw Adelaide start to fall over. I was at her side in seconds, catching her as she slumped off her seat. Katrina had sat up and was looking on concernedly.

"Is she okay?" she asked, her voice eerily serene.

My anger flared up, partially because of how calm she was but mostly because I was holding an unconscious Adelaide in my arms. "You!" I shouted, more forcefully than I intended to. "Look what you've done!"

"Me?" she asked softly. "How did I do this?"

"She was nervous because of what _you _did to her mother!"

I wasn't sure, but I thought I saw a hint of amusement on Katrina's face that made me even angrier. "Please, dear," she said quietly. "All of that is in the past now. I would _never _hurt a living creature."

I ignored her appeal, turning my attention to Adelaide. The color was drained off of her face. "Go and get a doctor," I ordered Katrina icily. She seemed to sense my anger and did as I said without question. Seconds later Dr. Tate rushed in. I knew she was Adelaide's aunt but with the number of Shannons working in the clinic it was just easier to refer to her by her maiden name.

"What happened?" she asked, stooping down and slowly prying Adelaide from my arms.

"She just…blacked out," I said lamely. "She was nervous about the evaluation she would be conducting. She was throwing up and stuff." I recalled the previous evening.

Dr. Tate nodded, then glanced coldly to Katrina, who looked away quickly, remaining surprisingly silent. "I don't blame her for being afraid," Dr. Tate said loudly. "She's a criminal after all."

"Oh please! That's all over and done with, my dear," Katrina replied, trying to sound condescending though it came out more fearful than anything.

"Alright, I want to get Adelaide into a Bio-Bed to do some tests—just to make sure nothing else is wrong."

I nodded.

"You may want to go do something else—this could take a while."

"I'm not leaving Adelaide's side," I declared resolutely. Dr. Tate shrugged, then looked to Katrina.

"I'll radio command and ask them to come pick her up. They'll probably want to finish the evaluation someplace else." With that, I stepped outside to radio HQ. Soon after, Privates Carlisle and Kelly came to get Katrina, still oddly unaffected by Adelaide's collapse.

Dr. Shannon, Adelaide's aunt, came into the exam room at the same time I did, evidently the one to be conducting the exam.

"Hi," she greeted pleasantly.

"Hi, Dr. Shannon."

"You look shaken," she noted as she opened several menus on Adelaide's Bio-Bed.

"I was worried!" I defended.

Dr. Shannon smirked. "You're just being a good boyfriend," she said. "Adelaide would be happy to know that." She turned back to the screen and frowned suddenly. "What the hell…?"

I rushed to the side of the bed, glancing over her shoulder and looking at the full-body image. "What is that?"

"I'm going to get my mother!" she declared suddenly, rushing out of the room without providing any answers as to what exactly the image was…

* * *

><p><strong>AN: What's wrong with Adelaide? Can Paul really trust anyone? This and more in the next chapter which will hopefully be up sooner rather than later. This is one of the few TN stories I still have motivation to write for! Please keep this motivation fueled with reviews! Thanks! **


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